Method for designing, and method for manufacturing, an acoustic waveguide device, and corresponding device

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for designing, and a method for manufacturing, a waveguide device (100), and to a corresponding device comprising an outer shell (CQE) and a core (NYI) which together define an acoustic waveguide channel. The acoustic waveguide channel has inner surfaces that define paths for the acoustic waves, the paths being of the same length so as not to introduce a delay gradient between the waves. The invention also relates to a loudspeaker enclosure and to a set of corresponding loudspeaker enclosures.

Description

Description Title of the invention: Design method, and manufacturing method of an acoustic waveguide device and corresponding device

[0001] FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates generally to acoustic wave guiding devices, also called waveguides.

[0003] PREVIOUS ART

[0004] Waveguides are known from the state of the art, which allow the propagation of sound waves emitted by a loudspeaker to be directed in a controlled manner.

[0005] In order to control the directivity of sound sources, so-called waveguide elements are used in acoustics. Depending on the type of control desired, it may be desired that the waveguide does not introduce a delay gradient regardless of the wave path between the input and output surfaces of the waveguide. An example of desired control is that juxtaposed loudspeakers of the same type, preferably identical, can radiate in phase in order to generate constructive acoustic interference (summation), and thus obtain greater energy in their radiation space, allowing the acoustic range to be increased.

[0006] The delay gradient can be expressed in a simplified view by the difference in length of the paths traveled by the acoustic waves within this waveguide.

[0007] Known waveguides are usually designed empirically so that their design is complex, time-consuming, tedious, and difficult to repeat.

[0008] The present invention aims to provide a new design method and a new manufacturing method for a waveguide device and a new acoustic waveguide device (waveguide) corresponding to overcome all or part of the problems set out above.

[0009] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a method implemented on a computer system for designing an external surface and an internal surface of the volume delimited by the waveguide channel of a waveguide device (preferably with a view to designing the external shell and the core, and preferably with a view to manufacturing the corresponding waveguide device), the computer system comprising a computer, a screen, a computer-aided design program executable by a processor of the computer, and a data input peripheral system, such as a keyboard and a mouse, operable by a user, the waveguide device comprising: - an external peripheral wall, called the external shell, - an internal peripheral wall, called the core, surrounded by the external shell; the external shell and the core delimiting between them: - an inlet opening which has an annular inlet surface, and to which an acoustic wave generator system is capable of being connected, - an outlet opening, called a mouth, having a rectangular outlet surface, the outer diameter of the annular inlet opening being less than the length of the long side of the rectangle of the outlet opening, and being greater than half the length of the long side of the rectangle of the outlet opening, the two inlet and outlet surfaces together having a plane of symmetry, called a vertical plane of symmetry, passing between the two long sides of the rectangle of the outlet surface, and a median plane, called a horizontal median plane, orthogonal to the vertical plane of symmetry, said planes passing through the center of the annular inlet surface and through the center of the rectangular outlet surface, - an acoustic waveguiding channel communicating between the inlet opening and the outlet opening and defined between an inner peripheral surface of the outer shell and an outer peripheral surface of the core; characterized in that the method comprises generating, using the computer system, a computer data set representative of an outer surface and an inner surface of the volume delimited by the waveguiding channel between the annular inlet surface and the rectangular outlet surface (said computer data set being able to be stored in a memory of the computer system); ;and in that said generation of the outer surface and the inner surface of the volume of the waveguiding channel comprises the following steps implemented using said computer system: a1) providing (which may be done by loading a file or plotting using the input device system) to the computer-aided design program, the annular inlet surface and the rectangular outlet surface and the distance between the center of the annular inlet surface and the center of the rectangular outlet surface, the normal to the inlet surface which passes through the center of the ring of the inlet surface being collinear with the normal to the outlet surface which passes through the center of the rectangle of the outlet surface;a2) cutting (for example using a cutting plane defined in the CAD program) of the set of inlet and outlet surfaces along said vertical plane of symmetry and said horizontal median plane to obtain a portion, called the upper lateral portion, of the annular inlet surface, and a portion, called the upper lateral portion, of the outlet surface; b) determining a path, called the first exterior path, for a first pair of points comprising a first point of the exterior contour of the upper lateral portion of the inlet surface located in the horizontal median plane, and a first point of the exterior contour of the upper lateral portion of the outlet surface located in said horizontal median plane;the length of the path being called the reference length (in particular, it can be provided that this step is carried out using the computer system, by selection by the user of said points and determination by the CAD program of the length between the two selected points); c) for a second pair of points comprising a second point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the entry surface, which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry, and a second point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the exit surface, which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry; determination of a second outer path, in the vertical plane of symmetry, which connects said second point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the entry surface and said second point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the exit surface, said second outer path comprising: - a first segment, called the opening segment, inclined at an angle of predefined value, called the upper opening angle, relative to the axis of intersection of the two planes with each other, and - a second segment, called a folding segment, which extends the first segment to said second point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the inlet surface, the length of said second outer path being equal to said determined reference length, (the length equal to said reference length and the opening angle being constraint parameters supplied to the CAD program); the junction point between the two segments being called the outer vertex; d) defining (for example using the CAD program) a plane, called the upper outer vertex plane, passing through said outer vertex and said first point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the outlet surface, and the center of the rectangular outlet surface;e) for several other pairs of intermediate points, located between the first and second pairs of points (said other pairs can be defined using the CAD program according to a desired number of points), each pair of intermediate points comprising a point of the outer contour of the first upper lateral portion of the entry surface and a corresponding point of the outer contour of the first upper lateral portion of the exit surface: determination (by the CAD program) of an outer path, called the intermediate outer path, formed by an opening segment and a folding segment which connect said intermediate points of said pair of points, the; junction point between said segments belonging to the outer upper vertex plane, the length of said outer path being equal to said determined reference length (the length equal to said reference length and the belonging of the junction point of segments to the outer upper plane being constraint parameters supplied to the CAD program);f) repeating the preceding steps b) to e) with the inner contour of the upper portion of the input surface and the inner contour of the first upper lateral portion of the output surface, to generate paths, called inner paths, having inner vertices, said inner paths being formed between pairs of points which each comprise a point belonging to the inner contour of the upper portion of the input surface and a corresponding point belonging to the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the output surface, the inner contour of the upper portion of the output surface corresponding to the segment in the vertical plane of symmetry which results from the cutting of the output surface according to said vertical plane of symmetry and said horizontal median plane;g) generation (by the CAD program) of an outer upper surface which passes through the outer paths determined between said pairs of points of said outer contours; h) generation (by the CAD program) of an inner upper surface which passes through the inner paths determined between said pairs of points of said inner contours;and: either, when the horizontal median plane is not a plane of symmetry, then, for the lower lateral portions of the inlet and outlet surfaces which are located, with respect to the horizontal median plane, on the opposite side to said upper lateral portions of the inlet and outlet surfaces, and on the same side of the vertical plane of symmetry as the upper lateral portions of the inlet and outlet surfaces, and for a predefined lower opening angle (provided as a constraint parameter to the CAD program): i) repetition of the previous steps b) to h) applied to the lower portions to determine outer paths and inner paths; associated with said lower lateral portions, and generating a lower outer surface and a lower inner surface according to the determined outer paths and inner paths; or, when the horizontal median plane is a plane of symmetry, ii) generating (by the CAD program) a lower outer surface and a lower inner surface by symmetry, with respect to the horizontal median plane, of the upper outer surface and the upper inner surface; j) generating (by the CAD program) an additional lower outer surface, an additional upper outer surface, an additional lower inner surface and an additional upper inner surface by symmetry, with respect to the vertical plane of symmetry, of said lower outer surface, said upper outer surface, said lower inner surface and said upper inner surface;said external surface of the volume of the wave guiding channel being formed by the joined assembly of said external surfaces; said internal surface of the volume of the wave guiding channel being formed by the joined assembly of said internal surfaces.;

[0010] The method according to the invention makes it possible to construct the waveguide channel, and thus the corresponding waveguide, in a simple and repeatable manner and without introducing a delay gradient for the acoustic waves between the input opening and the output opening of the waveguide.

[0011] The process makes it possible to create a waveguide thanks to which the wavefront obtained at the output of the waveguide is almost cylindrical.

[0012] For two juxtaposed speakers, each comprising such a waveguide, the acoustic wavefronts at the output of the waveguides are in phase, which makes it possible to generate constructive acoustic interference (summation). This results in greater energy in the radiation space of the speakers, which makes it possible to increase the acoustic range.

[0013] The outer shell of the waveguide device can be fabricated from (based on) the generated computer dataset of the surface outer surface of the waveguide channel volume according to the method. The inner core of the waveguide device can be manufactured from (based on) the generated computer data set of the inner surface of the waveguide channel volume.

[0014] There is also proposed a method implemented on a computer system, for designing the outer shell, and the core from the data set generated according to the method proposed above, comprising the generation using the computer system of a computer data set representative of the outer shell such that the internal peripheral surface of said outer shell is defined as a function of said computer data set representative of said external surface of said volume, and of a computer data set representative of the core such that the external peripheral surface of said core is defined as a function of said computer data set representative of said internal surface of said volume of the waveguiding channel.

[0015] Also provided is a method of manufacturing the outer shell and core of a waveguide device from the data sets generated according to the method proposed above.

[0016] There is also provided a method of manufacturing a waveguide device from the outer shell and the core manufactured according to the method proposed above, the method comprising fixing the core inside the outer shell by connecting tabs. The fixing is carried out by maintaining the space or distance between the outer shell and the core corresponding to the gap between the outer surface of the volume of the guide channel, corresponding to the inner peripheral surface of the outer shell - and the inner peripheral surface of the volume of the guide channel corresponding to the outer peripheral surface of the core - defined in the generated computer data set.

[0017] Also provided is a method of manufacturing an acoustic enclosure, the method comprising: - the supply of an enclosure box comprising two opposite faces, called upper and lower faces, connected to each other by two other faces called lateral faces; - the supply of a waveguide device manufactured according to the method proposed above, - fixing the waveguide device inside the speaker enclosure. The enclosure is open at the exit opening of the waveguide device.

[0018] Also provided is a method of manufacturing a set of at least two loudspeakers, the method comprising: - the supply of at least two acoustic enclosures according to the method proposed above, - the juxtaposition, for example the superposition, of the two enclosures so that, for each waveguide device, the plane which is parallel to the rectangle length of the rectangular outlet opening of the waveguide device, orthogonal to the outlet opening, and which passes through the center of the rectangular outlet opening, is coplanar with said corresponding plane of the other waveguide device.

[0019] It is also possible to add to one or each of the said processes one or more of the following characteristics taken in any technically admissible combination.

[0020] According to one embodiment, for each pair of intermediate points, the ratio of the length (of the contour part) between the intermediate point of the outer contour of the inlet surface and the first point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the inlet surface, to the length of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the inlet surface, is equal to the ratio of the length (of the contour part) between the corresponding intermediate point of the outer contour of the outlet surface and the first point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the outlet surface to the length of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the inlet surface.

[0021] According to one embodiment, said pairs of inner contour points comprise: a first pair of points comprising a first point of the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the entry surface located in the horizontal median plane, and a first point of the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the exit surface located in said horizontal median plane, the length of the path between said points being equal to the reference length; a second pair of points comprising a second point of the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the entry surface, which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry, and a second point of the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the exit surface, which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry; pairs of intermediate points located between the first and second pairs of points, each pair of intermediate points comprising a point of the inner contour of the first upper lateral portion of the entry surface, and a corresponding point of the inner contour of the first upper lateral portion of the exit surface;the second point of the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the exit surface being spaced from the second point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the exit surface by a distance equal to the distance between the second point of the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the entry surface and the second point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the entry surface.;

[0022] According to one embodiment, the inner peripheral surface of said outer shell corresponds to said outer surface of said volume of the wave guiding channel, for which the slope discontinuity zone formed by the inner vertices is replaced by a curved zone to obtain slope continuity of the inner peripheral surface, and the outer peripheral surface of said core corresponds to said inner surface of said volume of the wave guiding channel for which the slope discontinuity zone formed by the outer vertices is replaced by a curved zone to obtain slope continuity of the inner peripheral surface.

[0023] According to one embodiment, the upper opening angle, respectively the lower opening angle, is defined as a function of, is preferably equal to, the angle formed by an upper face, respectively lower face, of the housing of the enclosure in which the waveguide device is intended to be housed, with the median plane of the housing of said enclosure which is orthogonal to the outlet face of the housing opposite which the outlet opening of the waveguide device is intended to be oriented. Said median plane extends between the upper face and the lower face of the housing.

[0024] According to one embodiment, the rectangular outlet surface is equal to or larger than the annular inlet surface.

[0025] According to one embodiment, the waveguide device being housed in an enclosure housing, the outlet opening has a height equal to at least 80% of the height of the outlet face of the enclosure housing.

[0026] According to one embodiment, the outer shell and the core are each produced by molding, preferably by plastic injection.

[0027] According to one embodiment, the upper opening angle and / or the lower opening angle has a value in the range [5°; 30°].

[0028] The invention also relates to a waveguide device, obtained by the method according to any of the preceding embodiments.

[0029] The invention also relates to a waveguide device comprising: - an external peripheral wall, called the external shell, - an internal peripheral wall, called the core, surrounded by the external shell; the external shell and the core delimiting between them: - an inlet opening which has an annular inlet surface, and to which an acoustic wave generator is capable of being connected, - an outlet opening, called a mouth, having a rectangular outlet surface, the outer diameter of the annular inlet opening being less than the length of the long side of the rectangle of the outlet opening, and being greater than half the length of the long side of the rectangle of the outlet opening, the two inlet and outlet surfaces together having a plane of symmetry, called a vertical plane of symmetry, passing between the two long sides of the rectangle of the outlet surface, and a median plane, called a horizontal median plane, orthogonal to the vertical plane of symmetry, said planes passing through the center of the annular inlet surface and through the center of the rectangular outlet surface, - an acoustic waveguide channel communicating between the inlet opening and the outlet opening and defined between an inner peripheral surface of the outer shell and an outer peripheral surface of the core; characterized in that, for a portion, called the upper lateral portion, of the annular inlet surface, and a portion, called the upper lateral portion, of the outlet surface, defined by cutting the set of inlet and outlet surfaces along said vertical plane of symmetry and said horizontal median plane, said upper lateral portion being located on one side of the plane called the upper side and on one side of the plane, called the first lateral side; the path, called the first external path, for a first pair of points which comprises a first point of the external contour of the upper lateral portion of the inlet surface located in the horizontal median plane, and a first point of the external contour of the upper lateral portion of the outlet surface located in said horizontal median plane, has a length called the reference length;for a second pair of points comprising a second point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the input surface, which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry, and a second point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the output surface, which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry; the second outer path, in the vertical plane of symmetry, which connects said second point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the input surface and said second point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the output surface, comprises:; - a first segment, called the opening segment, the majority of which belongs to the inner peripheral surface of the outer shell, and which is inclined at an angle of predefined value, called the upper opening angle, relative to the axis of intersection of the two planes with each other, and - a second segment, called a folding segment, the majority of which belongs to the inner peripheral surface of the outer shell, and which extends the first segment to said second point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the entry surface, the length of said outer path being equal to said determined reference length, the junction point of the two segments being called the outer vertex; for a plane, called the upper outer vertex plane, passing through said outer vertex and said first point of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion of the exit surface, and the center of the exit surface rectangular; and, for several other pairs of intermediate points, located between the first and second pairs of points, each pair of intermediate points comprising a point of the outer contour of the first upper lateral portion of the entry surface and a corresponding point of the outer contour of the first upper lateral portion of the exit surface: considering the outer path, called the intermediate outer path, formed by an opening segment the majority of which belongs to the inner peripheral surface of the outer shell and a folding segment the majority of which belongs to the inner peripheral surface of the outer shell, and which connect said intermediate points of said pair of points, the junction point of said segments belonging to the plane of outer upper vertices, the length of said intermediate outer path is equal to said reference length;considering the path, called the first interior path, for a first pair of points which comprises a first point of the interior contour of the upper lateral portion of the entry surface located in the horizontal median plane, and a first point of the interior contour of the upper lateral portion of the exit surface located in said horizontal median plane; the length of said first interior path is equal to the reference length; the interior contour of the upper portion of the exit surface corresponding to the segment of the exit surface which extends in the vertical plane of symmetry and which results from the cutting of the exit surface according to said vertical plane of symmetry and said horizontal median plane;for a second pair of points comprising a second point of the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the input surface, which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry, and a second point of the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the output surface, which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry; considering the second inner path, in the vertical plane of symmetry, which connects said second point of the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the input surface and said second point of the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the output surface, the second inner path comprising:; - a first segment, called the opening segment, the majority of which belongs to the outer peripheral surface of the core and which is inclined at said upper opening angle, relative to the axis of intersection of the two planes with each other, and - a second segment, called a folding segment, the majority of which belongs to the outer peripheral surface of the core and which extends the first segment to said second point of the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the input surface, the junction point between straight lines passing through the two segments being called the inner vertex; the length of said second outer path is equal to said reference length, for a plane, called the upper inner vertex plane, passing through said inner vertex and said first point of the inner contour of the upper lateral portion of the output surface, and the center of the rectangular output surface;and, for several other pairs of intermediate points, located between the first and second pairs of points, each pair of intermediate points comprising a point of the inner contour of the first upper lateral portion of the entry surface and a corresponding point of the inner contour of the first upper lateral portion of the exit surface: considering each inner path, called an intermediate inner path, which connects points of a pair of intermediate points, and which comprises an opening segment the majority of which belongs to the outer peripheral surface of the core and a folding segment the majority of which belongs to the outer peripheral surface of the core and which are defined so that the junction point of said segments belongs to the plane of inner upper vertices, each intermediate inner path has a length equal to the reference length.;

[0030] According to a particular aspect, the junction points - which correspond to the points of change of direction for the waves - belong to a plane passing through the center of the opening of the exit surface and the middle of the length of the rectangle formed by the opening of the exit surface)

[0031] It can also be expected that the lower lateral part of the waveguide device has similar geometric characteristics, considering a lower lateral portion instead of the upper lateral portion of the annular inlet surface, and an upper lateral portion instead of the upper lateral portion of the outlet surface, and the lower opening angle instead of the upper opening angle.

[0032] According to one embodiment, the inner peripheral surface, and / or respectively the outer peripheral surface, comprises a circular arc portion which connects together the folding segment portions and the opening segment portions which belong to the inner peripheral surface, respectively to the outer peripheral surface, so that said segment portions are tangent to the corresponding circular arc.

[0033] According to one embodiment, the lengths of outer paths and inner paths associated with lower lateral portions of the inlet and outlet surfaces, located relative to said upper lateral portions on the other side of the horizontal median plane, are equal to said reference length.

[0034] According to one embodiment, the acoustic wave generator system is capable of being connected to the inlet opening of the outer shell, either directly or indirectly by a connection device whose inlet opening has a disc-shaped surface.

[0035] According to one embodiment, the internal volume of the connecting device is defined between an internal cone connected to the core and an external truncated cone connected to the external shell.

[0036] According to one embodiment, the connecting device has two internal surfaces which define between them a passage whose inlet is a disc-shaped surface and whose outlet is an annular-shaped surface connected to the inlet of the external shell, the two internal surfaces being configured so as not to introduce a difference in sound wave propagation time between the two internal surfaces (in other words configured to keep the acoustic waves in phase between the disc-shaped inlet of the connecting device and the annular outlet of said connecting device).

[0037] The invention also relates to an assembly of a waveguide device according to any of the proposed embodiments, and to an acoustic wave generator system.

[0038] The invention also relates to a method for designing the outer shell and the core (for the purpose of manufacturing the corresponding waveguide) comprising the following steps:

[0039] - acquisition of a set of computer data, preferably in the form of a computer file, representative of the external peripheral surface of the core and the internal peripheral surface of the external shell of the waveguide to be manufactured, said set of data having been generated by implementing the steps of generating the external surface and the internal surface of the volume delimited by the waveguide channel proposed above. The external surface and the internal surface of the volume delimited by the waveguide channel are respectively representative of the internal peripheral surface of the external shell and the external peripheral surface of the core of the waveguide to be manufactured;

[0040] - generating a computer data set representative of the outer shell such that the inner peripheral surface of said outer shell is defined as a function of said outer surface of said volume, and the outer peripheral surface of said core is defined as a function of said inner surface of said volume of the waveguide channel.

[0041] The or each generated computer data set (e.g., computer file(s)) may include a data set, such as points in space and / or plane data, that defines the outer peripheral surface of the core and the inner peripheral surface of the outer shell that correspond to the inner peripheral surfaces of the waveguide channel of the waveguide.

[0042] The or each set of computer data (or file) may be stored in a computer medium, such as a memory in a remotely accessible server or on a transportable memory such as a USB key or on any other computer medium.

[0043] The or each set (or file) of computer data may be transmitted to a machine configured to manufacture a mold corresponding to the surface(s) defined in the file so as to obtain a mold for the manufacture of the outer shell and a mold for the manufacture of the core. Each mold may comprise several parts.

[0044] In particular, a shell mold may comprise a first mold for delimiting the inner face of a first part (preferably a lateral part, for example left) of the shell, a second mold for the outer face of said first shell part, a third mold for delimiting the inner face of the second part (preferably the opposite lateral part, for example right) of the shell, and a fourth mold for the outer face of said second shell part. The shell parts may then be assembled together.

[0045] Similarly, a core mold may comprise a first mold for delimiting the outer face of a first portion (preferably a lateral portion, for example left) of the core, a second mold for the inner face of said first core portion, a third mold for delimiting the outer face of the second portion (preferably the opposite lateral portion, for example right) of the core, and a fourth mold for the inner face of said second core portion. The core portions may then be assembled together.

[0046] Preferably, the manufacturing of the outer shell comprises the manufacturing of a first mold, for example for manufacturing two half-shells of the outer shell, and the first mold comprises a molding surface which is defined by or as a function of the external surface of the volume delimited by the waveguiding channel defined in the corresponding computer data set generated. Advantageously, the manufacturing of the core comprises the manufacturing of a second mold, for example for manufacturing two half-shells of the core, and the second mold comprises a molding surface which is defined by or as a function of the internal surface of the volume delimited by the waveguiding channel defined in the corresponding computer data set generated.

[0047] According to one embodiment, the outer shell is connected to the core by connecting elements, such as connecting tabs, also called spacers, which make it possible to keep the internal peripheral surface of the outer shell separated from the external peripheral surface of the core to obtain a relative positioning (arrangement) of said external and internal peripheral surfaces which corresponds to the relative positioning of the corresponding external and internal surfaces of the volume delimited by the waveguide generated and defined in said set of computer data.

[0048] The invention also relates to a computer program comprising program code instructions for executing the steps of generating the external surface and the internal surface of the volume delimited by the waveguiding channel proposed above, and preferably for executing the manufacturing of the external shell and the core as proposed above, for example by controlling a machine for manufacturing a mold corresponding to the external shell and a mold corresponding to the internal shell.

[0049] The steps may be performed in the form of computer instructions executable by one or more computers. The computer programs, or computer instructions, may be contained in program storage devices, for example, computer-readable digital data storage media, or executable programs. The programs or instructions may also be executed from program storage devices.

[0050] According to one embodiment, the computer system comprises a computer equipped with a data input device system, such as a keyboard and mouse, a screen and a computer-aided design (CAD) program, such as SolidWorks or Catia software developed by Dassault Systems, executable by a processor of the computer. The screen makes it possible to display various elements, including the input parameters provided by the user, the design operations performed by the user and / or the CAD program.

[0051] The invention also relates to an enclosure comprising a housing, and, housed in the housing, a waveguide device according to any one of the modes of proposed implementation and an acoustic wave generator system connected to the waveguide device.

[0052] According to one embodiment, the upper opening angle and / or the lower opening angle has a value in the range [5°; 30°].

[0053] The invention also relates to a set of stacked speakers, each speaker being in accordance with the embodiment proposed above, the speakers being configured so that the acoustic waves emerging from said speakers are in phase.

[0054] The invention also relates to a set of juxtaposed enclosures, for example vertically superimposed, each enclosure conforming to the embodiment proposed above.

[0055] The invention also relates to a computer-implemented method for designing a waveguide device, which provides as output a file (set of computer data) of data or coordinates of points usable by a machine, for manufacturing the outer shell and the core of the waveguide device, for example in plastic material, for example a machine for manufacturing a mold of the outer shell and a mold of the core. The molds obtained, which can be formed of several parts, then make it possible to produce the outer shell and the plastic core by injection.

[0056] The invention also relates to a non-transitory medium, such as a memory, readable by a computer comprising computer-executable instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, implement any of the methods described above.

[0057] The first plane, the plane of symmetry, called "vertical" is a plane orthogonal to the rectangular exit surface (or to the annular entry surface), parallel to a length of the rectangle of the rectangular exit surface and which passes through the center of the rectangular exit surface. The second plane, the median plane called "horizontal" is orthogonal to the first plane and passes through the center of the rectangular exit surface and through the center of the annular entry surface.

[0058] According to a particular aspect, the outlet opening of the waveguide channel delimited by the external shell opens onto the exterior of the enclosure housing in which the waveguide device is housed.

[0059] The terms "upper" and "lower", for example in the denomination of "upper opening angle", "lower opening angle", "upper face (or wall)" and "lower face (or wall)" of the housing, are used to clarify and facilitate reading and understanding, with reference to a state of orientation of the rectangular exit opening of the waveguide channel (corresponding also to the exit opening of the outer shell and therefore of the waveguide) according to which the widths of the rectangle (shorter sides of the rectangle) are positioned one higher (at a higher height) than the other (at a lower height).In this orientation state of the rectangular outlet opening, in the fixed state of the waveguide device in a speaker box, the upper face of the speaker box is indeed the one located above the lower face of the speaker box, preferably extending substantially parallel to and close to the width of the rectangle of the uppermost outlet opening. The upper and lower faces of the speaker box opposite each other are connected to each other by two opposite side faces. In addition, the term vertical in "vertical plane of symmetry" is also used for ease of reading and understanding, and refers to an orientation state of the rectangular outlet opening of the waveguide channel in which the lengths of the rectangle (longer sides of the rectangle) are oriented vertically.It is understood that the rectangular outlet opening may have other orientations depending on the use made of the wave device or the corresponding enclosure. In particular, it may be provided that the rectangular outlet opening extends horizontally, and in this case the "first plane" is a plane of symmetry which is horizontal, while the "second plane" is a median plane which is vertical.

[0060] At the outlet, the outer shell and core may have rounded portions to facilitate their demolding.

[0061] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description, which is purely illustrative and non-limiting and must be read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

[0063] - [Fig. 1] Figure 1 illustrates the constructive acoustic interference obtained with two speakers each comprising a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0064] - [Fig. 2] Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of a portion of an enclosure comprising a housing housing an acoustic wave generator system and a waveguide according to one embodiment of the invention;

[0065] - [Fig. 3] Figure 3 illustrates a perspective view of the waveguide of Figure 2, connected to the acoustic wave generator system, with one half-shell of the outer shell of the waveguide removed;

[0066] - [Fig. 3A] Figure 3A illustrates a perspective view of the waveguide of Figure 2 with one half-shell of the outer shell and one half-shell of the core removed;

[0067] - [Fig. 3B] Figure 3B illustrates a perspective view of the waveguide of Figure 2, connected to the acoustic wave generator system, with the other half-shell of the outer shell and the other half-shell of the waveguide core removed, as compared to the view of Figure 3A.

[0068] - [Fig. 3C] Figure 3C repeats Figure 3A to illustrate parts of opening and folding segments which belong to the outer and inner peripheral surfaces of the waveguide and which are connected to each other by an arcuate part according to an embodiment of the invention,

[0069] - [Fig. 4] Figure 4 illustrates a perspective view and axial section along a vertical plane of symmetry, of a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention, which may be that of Figure 2, the section showing a device for connecting an acoustic wave generator to the annular input of the waveguide;

[0070] - [Fig. 5] is a step of a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0071] - [Fig. 6] is another step of a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0072] - [Fig. 7] is another step of a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0073] - [Fig. 8] is another step of a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0074] - [Fig. 9] is a step of a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0075] - [Fig. 10] is another step of a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0076] - [Fig. 11] is another step of a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0077] - [Fig. 12] is a 3D view of surfaces of the volume of the waveguide channel obtained by a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0078] - [Fig. 13] is another step of a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention, in particular when the median plane is not a plane of symmetry;

[0079] - [Fig. 14] is another step of a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention which follows the step illustrated in Figure 13;

[0080] - [Fig. 15] is a 3D view of half of the surfaces of the volume of the waveguide channel obtained by a method of manufacturing a waveguide according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0081] - [Fig. 16] is a 3D view of the other half of the surfaces of the waveguide channel volume obtained by symmetry of the surfaces of Figure 15 by a vertical symmetry plane.

[0082] In particular, Figures 5 to Figure 16 are views of different steps or their result which make it possible to generate the geometric surfaces which connect the input and output surfaces of the waveguide together and which delimit between them the volume of the wave guide channel through which the waves propagate between the input and the output of the waveguide.

[0083] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0084] Embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like numerals refer to like elements throughout the drawings. However, this inventive concept may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

[0085] A reference throughout the specification to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the occurrence of the phrase "in an embodiment" at various locations throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0086] With reference to the figures, a waveguide device, called a waveguide 100, is shown, which makes it possible to control the directivity of one or more sound sources of an acoustic wave generator system SG. The sound sources are also called transducers or loudspeakers. The waveguide device 100 is intended to be housed in a housing 10 of an enclosure 1 while being connected to the acoustic wave generator system SG.

[0087] The waveguide 100 defines a channel for the passage of acoustic waves.

[0088] The proposed waveguide allows the acoustic waves to be kept in phase between the input and output surfaces. In other words, the waveguide allows no delay gradient to be introduced regardless of the wave path between the input and output surfaces.

[0089] Figure 1 illustrates the constructive acoustic interference (summation) obtained with two speakers 1, 1' each comprising a waveguide 100, 100' according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0090] The acoustic enclosures 1, 1' are juxtaposed and, thanks to the absence of a delay gradient at the waveguides 100, 100', the acoustic wavefronts FO1, FO1' at the output of the waveguides 100, 100' are in phase, which makes it possible to generate constructive acoustic interference (summation) IC. This results in greater energy in the radiation space of the enclosures, which makes it possible to increase the acoustic range.

[0091] A method of constructing the waveguide is proposed in which equality of paths is geometrically sought for the paths traveled by the acoustic waves between the input and output surfaces of the waveguide. The fabrication of the waveguide includes a computer-implemented geometric surface generation phase that defines the peripheral surfaces of the volume (passage or air volume) delimited by the waveguide channel through which the acoustic waves are intended to propagate and that connect the input and output surfaces of the waveguide. These peripheral surfaces of the volume of the guide channel define the corresponding internal surfaces of the waveguide that physically delimit the waveguide channel that guides the waves between the input opening and the output opening of the waveguide.

[0092] As detailed below, these internal surfaces correspond respectively to the internal peripheral surface of a shell called the external shell, and to the external peripheral surface of a core called the internal core, surrounded by said internal peripheral surface of the external shell.

[0093] The proposed construction method allows to quickly and reliably generate the peripheral surfaces of the volume delimited by the waveguide channel for a given input surface and output surface, so that the outer shell of the waveguide device and the core can be designed, and from these generated surfaces, a waveguide having a waveguiding channel by which the acoustic waves are kept in phase between the input surface and the output surface of the waveguide can be manufactured. The propagation speed of the sound wave is considered the same for all points on the input surface of the waveguide.

[0094] In other words, the design phase implemented by computer makes it possible to generate surfaces delimiting between them an air passage corresponding to the passage delimited by the channel for guiding the acoustic waves that one wishes to obtain for the waveguide to be manufactured. The design phase thus makes it possible to obtain a set of computer data, for example in the form of a computer file, including the geometric data representing the internal surfaces of the channel intended to guide the waves which pass through the channel.

[0095] This computer data set can be used to design using a computer-aided design (CAD) program, for example the same one that generated the surfaces of the guide channel volume, the outer shell and the corresponding inner core. Indeed, the data set that corresponds to the designed waveguide channel volume can be used as a negative to design the inner peripheral face of the outer shell and the outer peripheral face of the inner core of the waveguide device.

[0096] The outer peripheral face of the volume corresponding to the waveguide channel is used to define the inner peripheral face of the outer shell of the waveguide device (and thus form said outer shell by defining an outer peripheral face of the outer shell which corresponds for example to an offset of the outer peripheral face of the volume of the guide channel. The inner peripheral face of the volume corresponding to the waveguide channel is used to define the outer peripheral face of the core of the waveguide device. The inner peripheral face of the core can also be defined by offsetting the inner peripheral face of the volume corresponding to the waveguide channel.

[0097] Waveguide device 100

[0098] The waveguide device 100 is in the form of a solid body which comprises: - an external peripheral wall CQE, called external shell. The external shell CQE has an internal peripheral surface SPI which corresponds to, or is defined from, an external peripheral surface SFEXTVAC generated according to the method detailed below, - an internal peripheral wall NYI, called core, surrounded by the external shell CQE. The NYI core has an external peripheral surface SPE which corresponds to, or is defined from, an internal peripheral surface SFINTVAC generated according to the method detailed below.

[0099] The outer shell CQE and the NYI core delimit between them:

[0100] - an inlet opening 110, called a groove, which has an annular surface S1, and to which an acoustic wave generator system SG is capable of being connected directly or indirectly as explained below;

[0101] - an outlet opening 190, called a mouth, preferably of a height substantially equal to the height of the enclosure, which has an outlet surface S9 of rectangular shape, and

[0102] - an acoustic wave guiding channel CNL1 communicating between the inlet opening 110 and the outlet opening 190, the guiding channel CNL1 being defined between the inner peripheral surface SPI of the outer shell CQE and the outer peripheral surface of the core NYL

[0103] The outer diameter of the annular inlet opening 110 is less than the length of the long side (height) of the rectangle of the outlet opening 190, and is greater than half the length of the long side (half the height) of the rectangle of the outlet opening 190.

[0104] SG Acoustic Wave Generator System

[0105] The acoustic wave generator system SG may comprise a high-frequency acoustic wave generator G1, also called a treble generator. The acoustic wave generator system SG may further comprise a medium-frequency acoustic wave generator G2, also called a midrange generator.

[0106] According to one embodiment, and as for example illustrated in Figure 3A or 4, the output of the generator G1 is connected to the input of the waveguide 100, via a connection device CA1.

[0107] The CA1 connection device includes: - an external peripheral wall CAE1 formed by a truncated cone, of preferably provided on the side of its large base with a CJ collar for junction to the external shell CQE, and - an inner peripheral wall CAI1 formed by a cone whose apex STCAI1 is centered on the disk surface SDCAE1 which forms the entrance (small section) of the outer peripheral wall truncated cone CAE1.

[0108] The entrance of the truncated cone defines a disc entrance surface and the apex of the internal cone is centered on the disc.

[0109] Such a design of the connecting device CA1 makes it possible to generate a connecting channel between the output of the generator G1 and the annular input of the waveguide channel CNL1 of the waveguide, keeping the acoustic waves from the generator G1 in phase up to the annular input of the waveguide which itself keeps the waves in phase up to the output opening.

[0110] When present, the acoustic wave generator G2 may be of the electrodynamic type. The generator G2 may comprise a coil (not shown) fixed to the outer peripheral wall CAE1 of the connecting device CA1 and a magnet (not shown) making it possible to exert a force with the coil on the outer peripheral wall CAE1 to make it vibrate and thus generate medium-frequency acoustic waves which then propagate in the channel CNL1 of the waveguide. In this case, the outer peripheral wall CAE1 of the connecting device CA1 forms a part of the generator G2. The generator G1 and the generator G2 are thus arranged in a so-called coaxial configuration.

[0111] The enclosure 1 may also comprise at least one HPG bass speaker. In particular, HPG bass speakers may be arranged on either side of the waveguide 100, as for example illustrated in Figure 2.

[0112] The inner peripheral surface SPI of the outer shell CQE and the outer peripheral surface SPE of the core NYI delimit between them a communication passage which forms the channel CNL1 for guiding waves from the inlet opening 110 (whose surface S1 is annular) to the outlet opening 190 (whose surface S9 is rectangular).

[0113] The inner peripheral surface SPI of the outer shell CQE and the outer peripheral surface SPE of the core NYI each have a geometry Particular Tl which is defined, as detailed below, based on predefined data which include: - the annular entry surface S1, - the rectangular S9 output surface, - the distance between the center 01 of the annular entry surface S1 and the center 09 of the rectangular exit surface S9, the normal to the surface S1 passing through the center 01 of the ring of the entry surface S1 being collinear with the normal to the exit surface S9 passing through the center 09 of the rectangle of the exit surface S9; - as well as a higher opening angle Qouv_sup, - and, when the median plane PN2, which passes through the center 01 of the annular surface S1 and the midpoints of the two large sides of the rectangle of the exit surface S9, is not a plane of symmetry: an opening angle less than a 0U vjnf, as explained below.

[0114] When the plane PN2 is a plane of symmetry, the lower opening angle Oouvjnf is of the same value as the upper opening angle C(ouv_sup-

[0115] Geometry of the volume delimited by the waveguide channel

[0116] The annular input opening 110 of the waveguide has an annular input surface S1 (example illustrated in particular in Figures 3A, 11 and 12). The annular input surface S1 is defined between an outer contour CE1 and an inner contour CI1 (Figure 12).

[0117] The rectangular output opening 190 of the waveguide has a rectangular output surface S9 (example illustrated in particular in Figure 3, 11 and 12).

[0118] As explained above for the inlet 110 and outlet 190 openings, the outer diameter of the annular inlet surface S1 is less than the length of the long side (height) of the rectangle of the outlet surface S9, and is greater than half the length of the long side (half the height) of the rectangle of the outlet surface S9.

[0119] The annular input surface S1 and the rectangular output surface S9 (which can be defined by the user of the computer system or in the form of a computer data file loaded into a memory of the computer system) form a set of surfaces which has a first plane of symmetry PN1 . The rectangular output surface S9 is defined by an outer contour CE9. To facilitate the design of the geometric surfaces of the acoustic wave passage volume delimited by the waveguide guide channel and as detailed below, the output surface S9 (and the input surface S1 ) is cut by a plane of symmetry PN1 (parallel to its longest side), and the intersection of the output surface S9 with the plane of symmetry PN1 defines a segment called the inner contour CI9 (Figure 12).

[0120] Said first plane of symmetry PN1 is said to be vertical because in the configuration of use of the enclosure 1 in which the waveguide 100 is housed, said plane of symmetry PN1 is vertical. In particular, the length (also called height or long side) of the rectangle of the output surface S9 is oriented vertically.

[0121] For the set of surfaces S1, S9, a second plane PN2 is defined, called the horizontal median plane, which passes through the center 01 of the surface S1 and through the center 09 of the surface S9 and which is perpendicular to the vertical plane of symmetry PN1. According to one embodiment and as explained below, it can be provided that the horizontal median plane PN2 is also a plane of symmetry for the set of surfaces S1, S9.

[0122] The dimensions of the annular inlet opening 110 and the rectangular outlet opening 190 (and thus the corresponding surfaces S1 and S9), and their arrangement relative to each other, are provided input data, which are preferably predefined according to the characteristics of the enclosure 1 in which the waveguide device 100 is intended to be housed.

[0123] The outer contour of the annular inlet surface S1 corresponds to the contour of the inner peripheral surface SPI of the outer shell CQE at the inlet opening 110, i.e. the outer contour of the ring of the annular inlet opening 110, and the inner contour of the annular inlet surface S1 corresponds to the contour of the outer peripheral surface SPE of the core NYI at the inlet opening 110, i.e. the inner contour of the ring of the annular inlet opening 110. Similarly, the outer contour of the rectangular outlet surface S9 corresponds to the contour of the inner peripheral surface SPI of the outer shell CQE at the inlet opening 110. outlet 190- i.e. the internal contour of the opening 190. As explained below, the so-called internal contour of the rectangular outlet surface S9 corresponds to the segment of the outlet surface S9 which extends in the plane PN1 and which results from the cutting of the outlet surface S9 with the plane PN1.

[0124] Cutting of the entire inlet S1 and outlet S9 surfaces

[0125] To facilitate the design of the geometric surfaces SFEXTVAC, and SFINTVAC of the volume delimited by the wave channel CNL1 from which the physical peripheral surfaces SPE, SPI of the wave channel are made, the set of input and output surfaces S1, S9 is cut by the planes PN1, PN2.

[0126] The cutting of the entry surface S1 by the plane PN1 and by the plane PN2 provides a first upper lateral portion PSIsup of the entry surface S1 (Figure 5). The upper lateral portion PSIsup is located on one side of the plane PN2, called the upper side, and on one side of the plane PN1 called the first lateral side. We can also define a lower lateral portion PS1 inf (Figures 11 and 13) which is located on the side of the plane PN2, called the lower side, opposite the upper side, and which is also located on the side of the plane PN1 which is said first lateral side. The other portions of the surface S1 correspond to the portions obtained by symmetry by the plane PN1 of said portions PSIsup and PSI inf.

[0127] The upper lateral portion PSIsup has an outer contour PCESIsup and an inner contour PCISIsup. The inner contour PCISIsup corresponds to the arc of the portion PSIsup closest to the center 01 of the input surface S1 , and the outer contour PCESIsup corresponds to the arc of the portion PSIsup furthest from the center 01 of the input surface S1 .

[0128] The cutting of the exit surface S9 by the plane PN1 and by the plane PN2 provides, in a similar manner to what was described for the entry surface S1, a first upper lateral portion PS9sup of the exit surface S9 (located on the same side of the planes PN1 and PN2 as the portion PSIsup) which has an outer contour PCES9sup and a so-called inner contour PCIS9sup. The inner contour PCIS9sup corresponds to the segment of the portion PS9sup of the exit surface S9 which is located in the plane PN1. The outer contour PCES9sup of the portion PS9sup is the outline of the portion PS9sup which is part of the (implicitly exterior) outline of the rectangular surface S9.

[0129] Said upper lateral portions PSI sup and PS9sup of the inlet and outlet surfaces are located opposite each other.

[0130] We thus obtain by cutting along the planes PN1, PN2 a first upper lateral quarter of the set of surfaces S1, S9. As detailed below, we seek to determine for this first quarter an external surface SFEXTsup, respectively internal SFINTsup (Figure 10), which connects the external contours, respectively internal, of said portions of surface PSI sup PS9sup. Said external surface, respectively internal, corresponds to the set of paths traveled by the acoustic waves between the external contour, respectively internal, of the inlet opening and the external contour, respectively internal, of the outlet opening, for the part of the waveguide channel corresponding to this first quarter, with the constraint that said paths must be of the same length so as not to introduce a phase shift between the waves.As detailed below, the outer surface SFEXTsup, respectively the inner surface SFINTsup, allows to generate and manufacture the surface SPIsup of the outer shell CQE of the waveguide, respectively the surface SPEsup of the NYI core of the waveguide (Figure 3B).

[0131] The outer and inner surfaces SFEXTinf, SFINTinf of the volume part of the guide channel (Figure 15) corresponding to the lower lateral quarter of the surface assembly S1, S9 located on the other side of the plane PN2, can, when the plane PN2 is a plane of symmetry, be obtained by symmetry, according to said plane PN2, of the outer and inner surfaces SFEXTsup, SFINTsup. When said plane PN2 is not a plane of symmetry, the outer and inner surfaces SFEXTinf, SFINTinf can be obtained by repeating the operations which are presented below to obtain the surfaces SFEXTsup, SFINTsup, by applying them to the corresponding portions PSI inf and PS9inf of the surfaces S1 and S9 and by using an opening angle value less than OU vjnfdonnée instead of the upper opening angle value Qouv_sup used to obtain the surfaces SFEXTsup, SFINTsup.

[0132] The outer and inner surfaces SFEXT'sup, SFINT'sup of the part of the volume of the guide channel corresponding to the other upper lateral quarter of the surface assembly S1, S9 located on the other side of the plane PN1, can be obtained by symmetry, according to said plane PN1, of the outer and inner surfaces SFEXTsup, SFINTsup (Figure 16).

[0133] Similarly, the outer and inner surfaces SFEXT'inf, SFINT'inf of the volume part of the guide channel corresponding to the other lower quarter of the surface assembly S1, S9 located on the other side of the plane PN1, can be obtained by symmetry, according to said plane PN1, of the outer and inner surfaces SFEXTinf, SFINTinf.

[0134] Determination of the distance d19max

[0135] As illustrated in the example of Figure 7, in the median plane PN2, the CAD program of the computer system determines the distance, called maximum distance or reference length d19max, between a point P1 ES1 , which belongs to the plane PN2, of the outer contour PCESIsup of the portion PSIsup of the input surface S1 , and a point P1 ES9, which belongs to the plane PN2, of the outer contour PCES9sup of the portion PS9sup of the output surface S9. In other words, the length of the path traveled by a sound wave in a straight line between the point P1 ES1 and the point P1 ES9 is determined. This length is subsequently used by the CAD program of the computer system as a reference length (i.e. as a constraint) to define the cumulative length of an opening segment and a corresponding folding segment as explained below.

[0136] Path connecting points P2ES1 and P2ES9 in plane PN1

[0137] As illustrated in the example of Figure 7, in the symmetry plane PN1 , for a point P2ES1 , called the upper end point, which belongs to the outer contour PCESIsup and to the plane PN1 , and, in the symmetry plane PN1 , for a second point P2ES9, called the upper end point, which belongs to the outer contour PCES9sup and to the plane PN1 , the CAD program of the computer system further determines in said plane PN1 a path between the two upper end points P2ES1 and P2ES9 which has the characteristics following provided as a constraint to the computer-aided design program of the computer system:

[0138] - the path length is equal to the maximum distance d19max (reference length);

[0139] - the path includes (or is made up of) two segments SDE2, SRE2, and the segment SDE2, called the opening segment (or upper exterior opening segment), which arrives at the exit surface S9, is inclined relative to the axis A12 of intersection of the planes PN1 and PN2, by an angle equal to the predefined upper opening angle Qouv_sup.

[0140] The upper opening angle has O uv_su P is an input data that is provided and stored in the computer system.

[0141] For a given acoustic energy supplied at the input of the waveguide by the SG generator system, the larger the upper (and / or lower) opening angle, the smaller the acoustic range, and, conversely, the smaller the upper (and / or lower) opening angle, the larger the acoustic range. However, it is understood that the larger the range, the greater the level of acoustic energy near the speaker and the potential for disturbance for a user located nearby. Range is understood to mean the distance from which a sound emitted by the speaker or speaker system is no longer perceptible to the listener.

[0142] According to one embodiment of the invention and as for example illustrated in Figure 1, the value of the upper opening angle can be defined as being equal to the angle formed by the upper face 11 of the housing 10 of the enclosure 1 with the median plane of the housing 10 of the enclosure 1 which is a plane which passes between the upper 11 and lower 12 faces of the housing 10 of the enclosure 1 and which is perpendicular to the front face 13 (output face) of the enclosure (towards which the output 190 of the waveguide 100 is oriented). The horizontal median plane of the waveguide channel volume extends between the upper and lower faces of the housing.

[0143] The right segment SRE2, called the fold segment (or upper exterior fold segment), extends the segment SDE2 to the point P2ES1. The length of the path formed by the addition of the length of the segment SDE2 and the length of segment SRE2 is equal to said determined maximum distance d19max. It is understood that fixing a given length (d19max) for the length of the path formed by the sum of the lengths of segments SDE2 and SRE2, and fixing an opening angle greater than 0U Given v_sup, defines the position of the junction point between the two segments SDE2, SRE2. This junction point is called the outer vertex STE2. The angle formed between the folding segment SRE2 and the axis A12 is called the upper folding angle.

[0144] PSSE exterior upper summit plan

[0145] As shown in Figure 7, the previously defined outer vertex STE2 is used to define a plane, called the outer upper vertex plane PSSE, which passes through point STE2, point P1 ES9 and point 09, called the geometry origin point, of the upper portion PS9sup of the output surface S9 which results from the intersection of planes PN1, PN2, with the output surface S9. Point 09 corresponds to the center of the surface S9. Point 09 also corresponds to the lower end point P1 IS9 of the inner contour PCIS9.

[0146] Generation of the outer upper vertices

[0147] The construction of a path formed by a first segment (folding segment) and a second segment (opening segment) between two points of a pair of points formed by a point of the outer contour PCESIsup of the upper portion PSIsup of the input surface S1 and a corresponding point of the outer contour PCES9sup of the upper portion PS9sup of the output surface S9, is carried out for several other pairs of points PiES1, PiES9 to obtain the folding segment SREi and the opening segment SDEi (i being an index varying from 3 to N, with N an integer greater than or equal to 3 corresponding to the number of sampling points of the outer contour PCES9sup and the outer contour PCESIsup that is desired), with the following constraints provided to the computer-aided design (CAD) program of the computer system: - the total length of the path formed by the two segments SREi, SDEi, must be equal to the determined maximum length d19max, - the junction point STEi, called the exterior vertex, of the segments SREi, SDEi belongs to the plane PSSE.

[0148] Thus, as shown in Figure 8, we can define N-2 pairs of intermediate points (located between the previous pairs of points P1 ES1, P1 ES9 and P2ES1, P2ES9), each pair of points comprising a point PiES1 of the upper outer contour of the input surface S1 and a corresponding point PiES9 of the upper outer contour of the output surface S9, with i an index ranging from 3 to N, such that the ratio of the distance between the point PiES1 and the point P1 ES1 to the length of the outer contour PCESIsup of the upper portion PSIsup of the input surface, is equal to the ratio of the distance between the point PiES9 and the point P1 ES9 to the length of the outer contour PCES9sup of the upper portion PS9sup of the output surface S9. In the example of Figure 9, we took N = 10 so that eight intermediate paths were determined.We can of course plan to increase the number N for better precision of the surface to be defined from said paths.

[0149] The CAD program of the computer system thus determines for each pair of points PiES1, PiES9, the path, also called the intermediate exterior path, formed by the segments SREi and SDEi which connect the points PiES1 and PiES9, with a junction point between said segments, noted STEi, which is the upper exterior vertex of the path, and which is defined as belonging to the plane of upper exterior vertices PSSE, the length of said path being equal to the reference length d19max.

[0150] Outer surface of the first upper lateral quarter of the volume of the communication passage of the guide channel

[0151] The outer paths obtained as explained previously from the upper portion PSIsup of the inlet surface S1 and the upper portion PS9sup of the outlet surface S9 are used to generate an outer upper surface SFEXTsup (Figure 10). It can be provided that the surface parts which extend between two outer paths have a curvature on the side of the inlet opening which corresponds to the curvature of the portion of the contour of the annular opening which connects the two outer paths together. Advantageously, this curvature is modified along the paths up to reach a flat surface to arrive at the portion of the outline of the rectangular exit opening which connects the two external paths on the exit side. It is also possible to round off the summit area between each opening segment and the corresponding folding segment to obtain slope continuity in this summit area.

[0152] It is understood that, for the production of the internal solid surfaces of the waveguide channel, the angular areas of the generated geometric surfaces, from which the internal solid surfaces of the waveguide channel are manufactured, preferably molded, can be replaced by areas in an arc of a circle, while maintaining an equal length between the different corresponding paths.

[0153] Interior vertex plan

[0154] In the median plane PN2, the distance between a point P1 IS1, which belongs to the plane PN2, of the outer contour PCISIsup of the portion PSIsup of the input surface and a point P1 IS9, which belongs to the plane PN2, of the inner contour PCIS9sup of the portion PS9sup of the output surface is equal to the maximum distance (reference length) d19max previously determined between the points P1 ES1 and P1 ES9.

[0155] Path connecting points P2ES1 and P2ES9 in plane PN2

[0156] As illustrated in the example of Figure 9, in the symmetry plane PN1 , for a point P2IS1 , called the upper end point, which belongs to the inner contour PCIS1 sup and to the plane PN1 , and, in the symmetry plane PN1 , for a point P2IS9, called the upper point, which belongs to the inner contour PCIS9sup and to the plane PN1 , and which is separated from the point P2ES9 by a distance equal to the separation between the point P2ES1 and P2IS1 , the CAD program of the computer system further determines in said plane PN1 a path between the two upper end points P2IS1 and P2IS9 which has the following characteristics provided as constraints to the CAD program of the computer system: - the path length is equal to the reference length d19max; - the path includes a folding segment SRI2, also called the upper inner folding segment, and an opening segment SDI2, also called upper interior opening segment (which reaches the exit surface S9): the opening segment is inclined relative to the axis A12 of intersection of the planes PN1 and PN2, by an angle equal to the predefined upper opening angle aouv_sup.

[0157] The segment SRI2 extends the segment SDI2 to the point P2IS1. The length of the path formed by the addition of the length of the segment SDI2 and the length of the segment SRI2 is equal to the said determined maximum distance d19max. It is understood that the fixing of a given length (d19max) for the length of the path formed by the sum of the lengths of the segments SDI2 and SRI2, and the fixing of an opening angle greater than 0U v_su Pgiven, defines the position of the junction point between the two segments. This junction point is called the interior vertex STI2. The angle formed between the folding segment SRI2 and the axis A12 is called the upper folding angle.

[0158] Plan of interior upper summits

[0159] The previously defined interior vertex STI2 is used to define a plane, called the interior upper vertex plane (not shown), which passes through point STI2, point P1 ES9 and point 09, called the geometry origin point, of the upper portion PS9sup of the output surface S9 which results from the intersection of planes PN1, PN2, with the output surface S9. As a reminder, point 09 corresponds to the center of the surface S9 and also corresponds to the lower end point P1 IS9 of the interior contour PCIS9.

[0160] Generation of interior top vertices

[0161] The construction of a path formed by a first segment (folding segment) and a second segment (opening segment) between two points of a pair of points formed by a point of the inner contour PCISIsup of the upper portion PSIsup of the input surface S1 and a corresponding point of the inner contour PCIS9sup of the upper portion PS9sup of the output surface S9, is carried out for several other pairs of points Pi IS1, Pi IS9 to obtain the folding segment SRIi and the opening segment SDIi (i being an index varying from 3 to N, with N an integer greater than or equal to 3 corresponding to the number of sampling points of the inner contour PCIS9sup and of the inner contour PCISIsup that is desired), with the following constraints provided to the computer-aided design program of the computer system: - the total length of the path formed by the two segments SRI i, SDIi, must be equal to the maximum determined length d19max, - the junction point STIi, called the interior vertex, of the segments SRIi, SDIi belongs to said plane of interior upper vertices.

[0162] Thus, as shown in Figure 9, we can define N-2 pairs of intermediate points (located between the previous pairs of points P1 IS1, P1 IS9 and P2IS1, P2IS9), each pair of points comprising a point PilS1 of the upper inner contour of the input surface S1 and a corresponding point Pi IS9 of the upper inner contour of the output surface S9, for i ranging from 3 to N, such that the ratio of the distance between the point Pi IS1 and the point P1 IS1 to the length of the inner contour PCISIsup of the upper portion PSIsup of the input surface, is equal to the ratio of the distance between the point PilS9 and the point P1 IS9 to the length of the inner contour PCIS9sup of the upper portion PS9sup of the output surface S9. In the example of Figure 9, we took N = 10 so that eight intermediate paths were determined.It is of course possible to increase the number N for better precision of the surface to be defined from said paths. To define the intermediate points of a contour, the user can provide the CAD program with the number of intermediate points desired for said contour so that the program divides the length of the contour into a number of portions, for example of the same length, corresponding to the number of intermediate points desired, each intermediate point being the junction point of two successive portions of said contour.

[0163] the CAD program of the computer system thus determines for each pair of points Pi IS 1 , Pi IS9, the path formed by the segments SRIi and SDIi which connect the points PilS1 and PilS9, with a junction point between said segments, noted STIi, which is the upper interior vertex of the path, and which is defined as belonging to the plane of upper interior vertices, the length of said path being equal to the maximum length d19max.

[0164] In other words, and as illustrated in Figure 9, the steps that made it possible to determine the exterior vertex plane PSSE and the corresponding exterior paths for pairs of points of the exterior contour, are repeated with pairs of points of the interior contour PCISIsup of the first portion upper PSIsup of the input surface S1 and the inner contour PCIS9sup of the first upper portion PS9sup of the output surface S9, to obtain so-called inner paths formed between the points PilS1 and PilS9 of inner upper vertices STIi. The steps described previously for determining outer paths can thus be repeated with, instead of the outer contour, the inner contour PCIS1 of the upper portion PSIsup of the input surface S1 and, instead of the outer contour, the inner contour PCIS9 of the first lateral upper portion PS9sup of the output surface S9, to generate inner paths.

[0165] Inner surface of the first upper lateral quarter of the guide channel volume

[0166] Similar to the generation of the outer upper surface SFEXTsup previously described, the inner paths obtained for the upper portions of the input surface PSIsup and the output surface PS9sup are used to generate an inner upper surface SFINTsup (Figure 10) which passes through said inner paths and which connect the inner contours of the input surface PSIsup and the output surface PS9sup to each other.

[0167] It may be provided that the surface portions extending between two interior paths have a curvature on the inlet opening side which corresponds to the curvature of the portion of the contour of the annular opening which connects the two interior paths together. Advantageously, this curvature is modified along the interior paths until a flat surface is reached to arrive at the portion of the contour of the rectangular outlet opening which connects the two interior paths together on the outlet side. It may also be provided to round off the apex area between each opening segment and the corresponding folding segment to obtain slope continuity in this apex area.

[0168] The space delimited between said outer upper surface SFEXTsup and said inner upper surface SFINTsup forms a part of the inner space of the channel (passage for acoustic waves), corresponding to said first upper lateral quarter, which communicates with the input opening and the output opening of the waveguide device.

[0169] Lower lateral portion of the air volume of the guide channel

[0170] When the median plane PN2 is a plane of symmetry, a symmetry is applied by said plane PN2 to the whole of the outer upper surface SFEXTsup and the inner upper surface SFINTsup to obtain the outer lower surface SFEXTinf and the inner lower surface SFINTinf.

[0171] As for example illustrated in Figure 13, when the median plane PN2 is not a plane of symmetry, the steps described previously which made it possible to obtain the outer upper surface SFEXTsup and the inner upper surface SFINTsup, are repeated with the whole of the inlet surface portion PS1 inf and the outlet surface portion PS9inf which result from the section by the planes PN1 and PN2 of the whole of the inlet surfaces S1 and outlet surfaces S9, said set of portions PS1 inf, PS9inf being located, relative to the plane PN2, on the opposite side and facing the set of portions PSI sup, PS9sup.Said repetition of the steps is carried out by replacing the upper opening angle Qouv_sup by a predefined lower opening angle Qouv nf to determine the exterior paths SDEiinf, SREiinf of vertices STEiinf (as for example illustrated in Figure 14), as well as the corresponding interior paths (not shown), and obtain the corresponding exterior lower surface SFEXTinf and interior lower surface SFINTinf (Figure 15).

[0172] According to one embodiment of the invention and as for example illustrated in Figure 1, the value of the upper opening angle can be defined as being equal to the angle formed by the upper face 11 of the housing 10 of the enclosure 1 with the axis A12 of the waveguide device. The upper opening angle is a value supplied to the CAD program of the computer system.

[0173] According to one embodiment of the invention and as for example illustrated in Figure 1, the value of the lower opening angle can be defined as being equal to the angle formed by the lower face 12 of the housing 10 of the enclosure 1 with the axis A12 of the waveguide device. The lower opening angle is a value supplied to the computer system's CAD program (when different from the upper opening angle).

[0174] Obtaining the total exterior surface area and the total interior surface area

[0175] Then, using the CAD program of the computer system, a symmetry is applied, by the vertical symmetry plane PN1, to the whole of the outer upper surface SFEXTsup, the inner upper surface SFINTsup, the outer upper surface SFEXTinf and the inner upper surface SFINTinf (Figure 15), to obtain the outer upper surface SFEXT'sup, the inner upper surface SFINT'sup, the outer upper surface SFEXT'inf and the inner upper surface SFINT'inf (Figure 16).

[0176] The external surfaces SFEXTsup, SFEXTinf, SFEXT'inf and SFEXT'sup which are joined form the total external surface SFEXTVAC (Figures 11 and 12) of the volume VACNL1 delimited by the waveguide guidance channel.

[0177] The interior surfaces SFINTsup, SFINTinf, SFINT'inf and SFINT'sup which are joined form the total interior surface SFINTVAC (Figure 11) of the volume VACNL1 delimited by the guiding channel of the waveguide.

[0178] This produces a set of surfaces, for example illustrated in Figure 12, which correspond to or from which can be generated and manufactured the internal surfaces of the wave guide channel which connect the input surfaces S1 and output surfaces S9 together so as to keep the acoustic waves in phase between the input and the output of the guide channel.

[0179] Manufacturing of the outer shell and core

[0180] The outer shell CQE can then be generated using the computer system's CAD program such that the inner peripheral surface SPI of its peripheral wall, which faces the NYI core, is defined by or as a function of the total outer surface area SFEXTVAC. Similarly, the NYI core can be generated using the computer system's CAD program such that the outer peripheral surface area SPE of its peripheral wall, which is enclosed by the outer shell, is defined by or as a function of the total outer surface area SFINTVAC.

[0181] In other words, the generation of the external shell CQE is carried out so that the internal peripheral surface SPI of said external shell CQE is defined as a function of the joint set of said external surfaces SFEXTsup, SFEXTinf, SFEXT'sup, SFEXT'inf; and the generation of the core NYI is carried out so that the external peripheral surface SPE of the core NYI is defined as a function of the joint set of said internal surfaces SFINTsup, SFINTinf, SFINT'sup and SFINT'inf.

[0182] This produces one or more computer files containing a computer data set defining the CQE outer shell and a computer data set defining the NYI core. These data sets can be used to make molds corresponding to the outer shell and the core for the manufacture of the outer shell and the core by plastic injection.

[0183] The computer data sets can be used to drive a machine for manufacturing said molds.

[0184] In one embodiment, the computer data sets may be used to draw up plans, for example on paper, for manufacturing the outer shell and the core.

[0185] As illustrated in Figures 3, 3A, and 3B, in connection with Figures 15 and 16, the internal peripheral surface SPI of said external shell CQE comprises: - a lateral upper part SPIsup which is defined from the surface SFEXTsup, - another upper lateral part SPI'sup, symmetrical by the plane PN1, of the upper lateral part SPIsup, which is defined from the surface SFEXT'sup, - a lower lateral part SPlinf which is defined from the surface SFEXTinf, - another lower lateral part SPI'inf, symmetrical by the plane PN1, of the lower lateral part SPlinf, which is defined from the surface SFEXT'inf,

[0186] Similarly, the inner peripheral surface SPE of the NYI core includes: - a lateral upper part SPEsup which is defined from the surface SFINTsup, - another upper lateral part SPE'sup, symmetrical by the plane PN1, of the upper lateral part SPEsup, which is defined from the surface SFINT'sup, - a lower lateral part SPEinf which is defined from the surface SFINTinf, - another lower lateral part SPE'inf, symmetrical by the plane PN1, of the lower lateral part SPEinf, which is defined from the surface SFINT'inf.

[0187] Figure 3 shows an upper lateral SPE supand a lower lateral part SPEinf of the NYI core, as well as an upper lateral part SPI'sup and a lower lateral part SPhnf of the external shell CQE.

[0188] Figure 3A shows the other upper lateral part SPE'sup and the other lower lateral part SPE'inf of the NYI nucleus, which are symmetrical, by the vertical PN1 plane of symmetry, to the upper lateral part SPE sup and the lower lateral part SPEinf. Also visible are the upper lateral part SPI'sup and the lower lateral part SPI'inf of the external shell CQE already visible in Figure 3.

[0189] Figure 3B shows the upper lateral SPE supand the lower lateral part SPEinf of the NYI core, as well as the upper lateral part SPIsup and the lower lateral part SPhnf of the external shell CQE. The parts SPEsup, SPEinf; SPIsup and SPhnf are respectively symmetrical by the vertical PN1 symmetry plane of the parts SPE'sup, SPE'inf; SPI'sup and SPI'inf.

[0190] As illustrated more particularly in Figures 3A and 3B, the waveguide comprises connecting elements called legs PL1 which make it possible to maintain the core and the outer shell in a given relative position corresponding to the desired waveguide channel defined between said outer shell and the core.

[0191] The waveguide thus manufactured is connected to an acoustic wave generation system SG as explained above, possibly via the intermediate connecting piece CA1. The entire waveguide and the acoustic wave generation system SG is housed in an enclosure, preferably with one or more bass speakers.

[0192] According to one embodiment, the external shell CQE and the core NYI are each produced by molding, preferably by plastic injection.

[0193] The CQE shell can be made in the form of two half-shells assembled together. The half-shells are obtained by manufacturing molds whose molding faces are made according to the defined SFEXTVAC surface.

[0194] The NYI core can be made in the form of two half-shells assembled together. The half-shells are obtained by manufacturing molds whose molding faces are made according to the defined SFINTVAC surface.

[0195] It is possible to provide for the production of a plurality of enclosures as described above and to superimpose them. Said enclosures are preferably articulated with each other.

[0196] According to one embodiment, it is possible to implement a method for manufacturing a waveguide which comprises the following steps:

[0197] - acquisition of a computer data set defining an external geometric surface SFEXTVAC1 and an internal geometric surface SFINTVAC1 of the air volume delimited by a waveguide channel CNL1, as described previously;

[0198] - manufacturing the waveguide device by manufacturing the outer shell CQE such that the inner peripheral surface SPI of said outer shell corresponds to said outer surface SFEXTVAC of said air volume delimited by the waveguide channel, defined in the computer data set (the contiguous set of surfaces SFEXTsup, SFEXTinf, SFEXT'sup and SFEXT'inf) and by manufacturing the NYI core such that the outer peripheral surface (SPE) of said NYI core corresponds to or is formed from said inner surface SFINTVAC of said air volume defined in the computer data set. In particular, the outer shell CQE is computer generated from the data of said outer surface SFEXTVAC, and the NYI core is computer generated from the data of said inner surface SFINTVAC.

[0199] It can be expected that the step of manufacturing the CQE external shell comprises the manufacturing of a CQE external shell mold, configured to have a molding surface defined by said external geometric surface SFEXTVAC1 in order to obtain by molding, preferably by injection, using said external shell mold, the external shell of the waveguide device whose internal peripheral surface SPI corresponds to said external geometric surface SFEXTVAC1 defined in said computer data set. And it can be provided that the step of manufacturing the NYI core comprises the manufacturing of a NYI core mold configured to have a molding surface defined by said external geometric surface SFEXTVAC1 of the data set, in order to obtain by molding using said core mold, the core of the guide device whose external peripheral surface SPE corresponds to said external geometric surface of said computer data set.

[0200] Waveguiding device

[0201] According to one embodiment, the waveguide comprises an outer shell and an inner core surrounded by the outer shell and which delimit between them a waveguide channel whose inner surfaces, formed by the inner peripheral surface of the outer shell and the outer peripheral surface of the core, have characteristics corresponding to the characteristics of the surfaces SFEXTVAC1 and SFINTVAC detailed previously. It is understood that the outer contour and the inner contour of the annular inlet opening 110 correspond respectively to the outer contour and the inner contour of the corresponding inlet surface S1. The outer contour of the rectangular outlet opening 190 corresponds to the outer contour of the corresponding outlet surface S9.

[0202] The inner and outer paths each have the same length equal to the reference length d19max.

[0203] It is understood that, for example for molding constraints, the solid surface SPI of the external shell and / or the solid surface SPE of the core may present modifications compared to the generated geometric surfaces SFEXTVAC1 and SFINTVAC. Thus and as discussed previously, angular areas (introducing slope discontinuities) can be modified to present an arc of a circle.

[0204] As for example illustrated in Figure 3C in connection with the other figures, such as Figures 5 to 10, for an upper lateral portion PSIsup of the annular inlet surface S1, and a lateral portion PS9sup of the outlet surface S9, defined by cutting the set of inlet and outlet surfaces S1, S9 along said vertical plane of symmetry PN1 and said horizontal median plane PN2, said upper lateral portion being located on one side of the plane PN2 called the upper side and on one side of the plane PN1, called the first lateral side; for a first pair of points P1 ES1;P1 ES9 which comprises a first point P1 ES1 of the outer contour PCES1 of the upper lateral portion PSIsup of the inlet surface S1 located in the horizontal median plane PN2, and a first point P1 ES9 of the outer contour PCES9 of the upper lateral portion PS9sup of the outlet surface S9 located in said horizontal median plane PN2, the first outer path (which belongs to the surface SPI of the outer shell) which connects P1 ES1; P1 ES9, has a length equal to the reference length d19max.;

[0205] For a second pair of points P2ES1; P2ES9 comprising a second point P2ES1 of the outer contour PCES1 of the upper lateral portion PSIsup of the input surface S1, which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry PN1, and a second point P2ES9 of the outer contour PCES9 of the upper lateral portion PS9sup of the output surface S9, which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry PN1; the second outer path, in the vertical plane of symmetry PN1, which connects said second point P2ES1 of the outer contour PCES1 of the upper lateral portion PSIsup of the input surface S1 and said second point P2ES9 of the outer contour PCES9 of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the output surface S9, comprises (or consists of): - a first segment SDE2, called opening segment, the majority of which PSDE2 (Figure 3C) belongs to the inner peripheral surface SPI of the outer shell CQE, and which is inclined at an angle corresponding to the upper opening angle, relative to the intersection axis A12 of the two planes PN1, PN2 between them, and - a second segment SRE2, called folding segment, the majority of which PSRE2 (Figure 3C) belongs to the inner peripheral surface SPI of the external shell CQE, and which extends the first segment SDE2 to said second point P2ES1 of the external contour PCES1 of the upper lateral portion PSIsup of the entry surface S1, the length of said external path being equal to said determined reference length d19max, the junction point of the two segments SDE2, SRE2 is called the external vertex STE2.

[0206] For a plane of upper exterior vertices PSSE passing through said exterior vertex STE2 and said first point P1 ES9 of the exterior contour PCES9 of the upper lateral portion PS9sup of the exit surface S9, and the center 09 of the rectangular exit surface S9; and, for several other pairs of intermediate points PiES1; PiES9, located between the first and second pairs of points P1 ES1; P1 ES9, P2ES1; P2ES9, each pair of intermediate points comprising a point PiES1 of the outer contour PCES1 of the first upper lateral portion PSIsup of the input surface S1 and a corresponding point PiES9 of the outer contour PCES9 of the first upper lateral portion PS9sup of the output surface S9: considering the intermediate outer path formed by an opening segment SDEi the majority of which belongs to the inner peripheral surface SPI of the outer shell CQE and a folding segment SREi the majority of which belongs to the inner peripheral surface SPI of the outer shell CQE, and which connect said intermediate points PiES1, PiES9 of said pair of points, the junction point STEi of said segments SDEi, SREi belonging to the outer upper vertex plane PSSE, the length of said intermediate outer path is equal to said reference length d19max.

[0207] Considering a first interior path, for a first pair of points P1 IS1; P1 IS9 which comprises a first point P1 IS1 of the interior contour PCIS1 of the upper lateral portion PSIsup of the entry surface S1 located in the horizontal median plane PN2, and a first point P1 IS9 of the interior contour PCIS9 of the upper lateral portion PS9sup of the exit surface S9 located in said horizontal median plane PN2, the length of said first interior path is equal to the reference length. As a reminder, the interior contour PCIS9 of the upper portion PS9sup of the exit surface S9 corresponds to the segment of the exit surface S9 which extends in the vertical plane of symmetry PN1 and which results from the section of the output surface S9 according to said vertical plane of symmetry PN1 and said horizontal median plane PN2.

[0208] For a second pair of points P2IS1; P2IS9 comprising a second point P2ES1 of the inner contour PCIS1 of the upper lateral portion PSIsup of the input surface S1, which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry PN1, and a second point P2IS9 of the inner contour PCIS9 of the upper lateral portion PS9sup of the output surface S9, which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry PN1; considering the second inner path, in the vertical plane of symmetry PN1, which connects said second point P2IS1 of the inner contour PCIS1 of the upper lateral portion PSIsup of the input surface S1 and said second point P2IS9 of the inner contour PCIS9 of the upper lateral portion PS9sup of the output surface S9, the second inner path comprising (or consists of): - a first segment SDI2, called the opening segment, the majority of which PSDI2 belongs to the outer peripheral surface SPE of the NYI core and which is inclined by said upper opening angle aouv_sup, relative to the intersection axis A12 of the two planes PN1, PN2 between them, and - a second segment SRI2, called the folding segment, the majority of which PSRI2 belongs to the outer peripheral surface SPE of the core NYI and which extends the first segment SDI2 to said second point P2IS1 of the inner contour PCIS1 of the upper lateral portion PSIsup of the input surface S1, the junction point between straight lines passing through the two segments SDI2, SRI2 being called the inner vertex STI2; the length of said second outer path is equal to said reference length d19max.

[0209] For a plane, called the upper interior vertex plane, passing through said interior vertex STI2 and said first point P1 IS9 of the interior contour PCIS9 of the upper lateral portion PS9sup of the exit surface S9, and the center 09 of the rectangular exit surface S9; and, for several other pairs of intermediate points Pi IS1; PilS9, located between the first and second pairs of points P1 IS1; P1 IS9, P2IS1; P2IS9, each pair of intermediate points comprising a point PilS1 of the interior contour PCIS1 of the first upper lateral portion PSIsup of the entry surface S1 and a point PilS9 corresponding to the inner contour PCIS9 of the first upper lateral portion PS9sup of the output surface S9: considering each inner path, called the intermediate inner path, which connects points Pi IS1, Pi IS9 of a pair of intermediate points, and which comprises an opening segment SDIi the majority of which belongs to the outer peripheral surface SPE of the core NYI and a folding segment SRI i the majority of which belongs to the outer peripheral surface SPE of the core NYI and which are defined so that the junction point STIi of said segments SDIi, SRIi belongs to the plane of inner upper vertices, each intermediate inner path has a length equal to the reference length d19max.

[0210] The description given below for the upper lateral portions PS1 sup, PS9sup (which form the inlet and outlet surface portions of the volume delimited by the surface SPEsup and the surface SPIsup), also applies to the lower lateral portions PS1 inf, PS9inf (which form the inlet and outlet surface portions of the volume delimited by the surface SPEinf and the surface SPlinf) by replacing the upper opening angle with the lower opening angle. The waveguide having a plane of symmetry PN1, the description also applies, by symmetry of plane PN1, to the other upper lateral portions PS1 'sup, PS9'sup (which form the inlet and outlet surface portions of the volume delimited by the surface SPE'sup and the surface SPI'sup), and to the other lower lateral portions PSI 'inf, PS9'inf (which form the inlet and outlet surface portions of the volume delimited by the surface SPE'inf and the surface SPI'inf).

[0211] Advantageously, and as visible in the sectional view of the enclosures of Figure 1, to be considered in connection with Figures 3 and 3C, according to a sectional plane, for example vertical, corresponding to the plane PN1, the angle of the segment SDE2 (Figure 6), called the upper opening segment, which makes it possible to obtain the segment PSDE2 (Figure 3C) of the upper part of the internal peripheral face of the external shell which opens onto the outlet opening, forms an angle with the axis A12 of the waveguide device (axis passing through the center of the annular opening and the center of the rectangular opening) which is equal to the upper opening angle defined between the upper face 11 or the segment S11 of the housing (resulting from the cutting of the housing according to PN1) and the axis A12 of the waveguide device.

[0212] It can also be provided that the angle of the segment SDI2 (Figure 9), called the lower opening segment, which makes it possible to obtain the segment PSDI2 (Figure 3C) of the upper part of the external peripheral face of the core which opens onto the output opening, forms an angle with the axis of the waveguide device (axis passing through the center of the annular opening and the center of the rectangular opening) which is equal to the upper opening angle defined between the upper face 11 or the segment S11 of the housing (resulting from the cutting of the housing according to PN1) of the housing and the axis of the housing.

[0213] Similarly for the lower opening angle: it can be provided that the angle of the segment, called the lower opening segment, which makes it possible to obtain in the plane PN1 the segment of the lower part of the internal peripheral face of the external shell which opens onto the outlet opening, forms an angle with the axis A12 of the waveguide device (axis passing through the center of the annular opening and the center of the rectangular opening) which is equal to the lower opening angle defined between the upper face 12 or the segment S12 of the housing (resulting from the cutting of the housing according to PN1) and the axis A12 of the waveguide device.

[0214] It can also be provided that the angle of the segment, called the lower opening segment, which makes it possible to obtain in the plane PN1 the segment of the lower part of the external peripheral face of the core which opens onto the output opening, forms an angle with the axis of the waveguide device (axis passing through the center of the annular opening and the center of the rectangular opening) which is equal to the lower opening angle defined between the upper face 12 or the segment S12 of the housing (resulting from the cutting of the housing according to PN1) of the housing and the axis of the housing.

[0215] Such a design makes it possible to do without a horn at the output of the waveguide device, which makes it possible to reduce the size of the waveguide device, and thus of each sound assembly which includes the speaker and the waveguide device.

[0216] According to one embodiment, in the housed state of the waveguide device in an enclosure housing which has two opposite faces called upper face and lower face, connected to each other by two faces called opposite lateral faces, the horizontal median plane of the waveguide channel volume extending between the upper and lower faces of the housing, in the section plane along the plane PN1 which is the plane normal to the outlet opening S9 and parallel to a length of the rectangle of the outlet opening S9, and which passes through the center 09 of the outlet opening S9, the segment S11 of the upper face (or wall) 11 of the housing, resulting from the section along said plane PN1, is inclined relative to the axis passing through the centers 01, 09 of the inlet surfaces S1 and outlet surfaces S9, (i.e.the normal to the rectangular outlet opening passing through the center 09 of the outlet opening) by an angle equal to said upper opening angle according to which the opening segment SDE2 of the second upper outer path of the volume of the waveguide channel was constructed (and which makes it possible to define a part of the upper internal face of the outer shell). The segment PSDE2 of the outer shell is located on the side of the outlet opening S9 (as opposed to the other segment PSRE2 of the shell located on the side of the inlet opening S1 and corresponding at least in part to the folding segment SRE2 of the second upper outer path of the volume of the waveguide channel. Said segment PSDE2 resulting from the section of the upper part of the shell by the plane PN1, corresponds at least in part to said opening segment SDE2 of the second upper outer path of the volume of the waveguide channel.

[0217] According to one embodiment, in the housed state of the waveguide device in an enclosure housing which has two opposite faces called upper and lower, connected to each other by two opposite faces called lateral, the horizontal median plane of the waveguide channel volume extending between the upper and lower faces of the housing, in the section plane along the plane PN1 which is the plane normal to the outlet opening S9 and parallel to a length of the rectangle of the outlet opening S9, and which passes through the center 09 of the outlet opening S9, the segment S11 of the upper face (or wall) of the housing, resulting from the section along said plane PN1, is inclined relative to the axis passing through the centers 01, 09 of the inlet and outlet surfaces, (i.e. the normal to the rectangular outlet opening passing through the center 09 of the outlet opening) by an angle equal to said upper opening angle according to which the opening segment SDI2 of the upper inner path of the volume of the waveguide channel was constructed (and which makes it possible to define a part of the upper external face of the core. The segment PSDI2 of the core is located on the side of the outlet opening S9 (as opposed to the other segment PSRI2 of the core located on the side of the inlet opening S1 and corresponding at least in part to the folding segment SRI2 of the upper inner path of the volume of the waveguide channel). Said segment PSDI2 which results from the cutting of the upper part of the core by the plane PN1, corresponds at least in part to said opening segment SDI2 of the upper inner path of the volume of the waveguide channel.

[0218] According to one embodiment, in the housed state of the waveguide device in an enclosure housing which has two opposite faces called upper face and lower face, connected to each other by two faces called opposite lateral faces, said horizontal median plane of the waveguide channel volume extending between the upper and lower faces of the housing, in the section plane along the plane PN1 which is the plane normal to the outlet opening S9 and parallel to a length of the rectangle of the outlet opening S9, and which passes through the center 09 of the outlet opening S9, the segment S12 of the lower face (or wall) of the housing, resulting from the section along said plane PN1, is inclined relative to the axis A12 passing the centers 01, 09 of the inlet and outlet surfaces, (i.e.the normal to the rectangular outlet opening passing through the center 09 of the outlet opening) by an angle equal to said lower opening angle according to which the opening segment of the lower outer path of the volume of the waveguide channel was constructed (and which makes it possible to define a part of the lower inner face of the outer shell).

[0219] According to one embodiment, in the housed state of the waveguide device in an enclosure housing which has two opposite faces called upper face and lower face, connected to each other by two faces called opposite lateral faces, said horizontal median plane of the waveguide channel volume extending between the upper and lower faces of the housing, in sectional plane according to plane PN1 which is the plane normal to the outlet opening S9 and parallel to a length of the rectangle of the outlet opening S9, and which passes through the center 09 of the outlet opening S9, the segment S12 of the lower face (or wall) of the housing, resulting from the section according to said plane PN1, is inclined relative to the axis A12 passing the centers 01, 09 of the inlet and outlet surfaces, (i.e. the normal to the rectangular outlet opening passing through the center 09 of the outlet opening) by an angle equal to said lower opening angle according to which the opening segment of the lower internal path of the volume of the waveguide channel was constructed (and which makes it possible to define a part of the lower external face of the core).

[0220] According to one embodiment, in section along the plane PN1 passing through the center 01 of the annular inlet opening and the center 09 of the rectangular outlet opening and parallel to a length of the rectangle of the rectangular outlet opening S9, the angle defined between the axis A12, which passes through the center 01 of the annular inlet opening and the center 09 of the rectangular outlet opening, and the upper wall 11 of the enclosure housing (or the segment S11 of the upper wall which results from the section along said plane PN1), is equal to the angle formed, with said axis A12, by the segment PSDE2 (resulting from the section along said plane PN1) of the inner surface of the upper part of the outer shell CQE, which corresponds to at least a part of the outer upper opening segment SDE2 of the path in said plane PN1 used to define the outer surface of the upper portion of the volume of the waveguide channel.Said segment PSDE2 of the inner surface of the upper part of the outer shell is located on the side of the rectangular outlet opening (as opposed to the other segment PSRE2 of the path in said plane PN1 of the inner surface of the upper part of the outer shell, corresponding to at least a part of the folding segment SRE2 of the path in said plane PN1 used to define the outer surface of the upper portion of the volume of the waveguide channel, located on the side of the annular inlet opening).

[0221] According to one embodiment, in section along the plane PN1 passing through the center 01 of the annular inlet opening and the center 09 of the rectangular outlet opening and parallel to a length of the rectangle of the opening of rectangular outlet S9, the angle defined between said axis A12 and the lower wall 12 of the enclosure box (or the segment S12 of the upper wall which results from the section along the plane PN1), is equal to said lower opening angle which forms, with said axis A12, the segment of the inner surface of the lower part of the external shell CQE (resulting from the section along said plane PN1), corresponding to at least a part of the lower opening segment of the path in said plane PN1 used to define the external surface of the lower portion of the volume of the waveguide channel.Said segment is located on the side of the rectangular outlet opening (as opposed to the other segment of the path in said plane PN1 of the inner surface of the lower part of the outer shell, corresponding to at least part of the folding segment of the path in said plane PN1 used to define the outer surface of the lower portion of the volume of the waveguide channel, located on the side of the annular inlet opening).

[0222] Similarly for the kernel:

[0223] According to one embodiment, in section along the plane PN1 passing through the center 01 of the annular inlet opening and the center 09 of the rectangular outlet opening and parallel to a length of the rectangle of the rectangular outlet opening S9, the angle defined between the axis A12, which passes through the center 01 of the annular inlet opening and the center 09 of the rectangular outlet opening, and the upper wall 11 of the enclosure housing (or the segment S11 of the upper wall which results from the section along the plane PN1), is equal to the angle formed, with said axis, by the segment PSDI2 (resulting from the section along said plane PN1) of the outer surface of the upper part of the core NYI, which corresponds to at least a part of the upper opening segment SDI2 of the path in said plane PN1 used to define the inner surface of the upper portion of the volume of the waveguide channel.Said segment PSDI2 of the outer surface of the upper part of the NYI core is located on the side of the rectangular outlet opening (as opposed to the other segment PSRI2 of the path in said plane PN1 of the outer surface of the upper part of the core, corresponding to at least a part of the folding segment SRI2 of the path in said plane PN1 used. to define the internal surface of the upper portion of the waveguide channel volume, located on the side of the annular inlet opening).

[0224] According to one embodiment, in section along the plane PN1 passing through the center 01 of the annular inlet opening and the center 09 of the rectangular outlet opening and parallel to a length of the rectangle of the rectangular outlet opening S9, the angle defined between said axis A12 and the lower wall 12 of the enclosure housing (or the segment S12 of the upper wall which results from the section along said plane PN1), is equal to said lower opening angle formed, with said axis A12, by the segment of the outer surface of the lower part of the core NYI (resulting from the section along said plane PN1), corresponding to at least a part of the lower opening segment of the path in said plane PN1 used to define the internal surface of the lower portion of the volume of the waveguide channel.Said segment is located on the side of the rectangular outlet opening (as opposed to the other segment of the path in said plane PN1 of the outer surface of the lower part of the core, corresponding to at least part of the folding segment of the path in said plane PN1 used to define the inner surface of the lower portion of the volume of the waveguide channel, located on the side of the annular inlet opening).

[0225] Thanks to such a design of the volume of the waveguide channel, and thus of the corresponding internal surface of the outer shell and the external surface of the core which delimit said channel, not only is each waveguide device of an enclosure configured so that the acoustic waves leaving the enclosure are in phase, but in addition, thanks to the choice of applying, to said opening segments of the surface paths of the upper, respectively lower, part of the outer shell and of the core, an angle equal to the upper opening angle, and respectively an angle equal to the lower opening angle, the waveguide device obtained makes it possible to do without a horn at the output of the waveguide device, which reduces the size of the waveguide device.

[0226] The design of the inner peripheral surface of the outer shell, and respectively of the outer peripheral surface of the core, which forms the waveguide channel, each formed from opening segments and of folding segment, with junction points between the opening and corresponding folding segments which are coplanar, makes it possible to obtain, in a reliable and repeatable manner, waveguiding surfaces inside the waveguide for each of which the waves which follow these surfaces undergo inside the waveguiding channel, between the annular inlet and the rectangular outlet, only a single limited change of direction and amplitude, at the junction point of said segments. The loss of sound energy is thus limited inside the waveguide.

[0227] Furthermore, such a design of the waveguide device makes it possible to reliably control the directivity of the output sound, in particular in the plane, preferably vertical, in which the speakers are arranged, which is the wave coupling plane, in particular for large opening angles (for example between 20-30°), the opening angle corresponding to the sum of the lower opening angle and the upper opening angle.

[0228] The invention is not limited to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings. Accordingly, it should be understood that, where the features mentioned in the appended claims are followed by reference signs, these signs are included solely for the purpose of improving the intelligibility of the claims and are in no way limiting the scope of the claims.

[0229] Furthermore, the term "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps. Furthermore, features or steps that have been described with reference to one of the embodiments set forth above may also be used in combination with other features or steps of other embodiments set forth above.

Claims

Claims 1. Method, implemented on a computer system, for designing an external surface (SFEXTVAC) and an internal surface (SFINTVAC) of the volume delimited by the waveguide channel (CNL1) of a waveguide device, the computer system comprising a computer, a screen, a computer-aided design program executable by a processor of the computer, and a data input peripheral system, such as a keyboard and a mouse, manipulable by a user, the waveguide device (100) comprising: - an external peripheral wall (EPW), called the external shell, - an internal peripheral wall (NYI), called core, surrounded by the external shell (CQE); the external shell (CQE) and the core (NYI) delimiting between them: - an inlet opening (110) which has an annular inlet surface (S1), and to which an acoustic wave generator system (SG) is capable of being connected, - an outlet opening (190), called a mouth, having a rectangular outlet surface (S9), the outer diameter of the annular inlet opening (110) being less than the length of the long side of the rectangle of the outlet opening (190), and being greater than half the length of the long side of the rectangle of the outlet opening (190), the two inlet and outlet surfaces (S1, S9) together having a plane of symmetry (PN1), called a vertical plane of symmetry, passing between the two long sides of the rectangle of the outlet surface (S9), and a median plane (PN2), called a horizontal median plane, orthogonal to the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1), said planes (PN1, PN2) passing through the center (01) of the annular inlet surface (S1) and through the center (09) of the rectangular outlet surface (S9), - an acoustic wave guiding channel (CNL1) communicating between the inlet opening (110) and the outlet opening (190) and defined between an inner peripheral surface (SPI) of the outer shell (CQE) and an outer peripheral surface (SPE) of the core (NYI); characterized in that the method comprises generating, using the system computer, of a set of computer data representative of an external surface (SFEXTVAC) and an internal surface (SFINTVAC) of the volume delimited by the waveguide channel (CNL1) between the annular input surface (S1) and the rectangular output surface (S9);and in that said generation of the external surface (SFEXTVAC) and the internal surface (SFINTVAC) of the volume of the waveguiding channel comprises the following steps implemented using said computer system: a1) providing, to the computer-aided design program, the annular inlet surface (S1) and the rectangular outlet surface (S9) and the distance between the center (01) of the annular inlet surface (S1) and the center (09) of the rectangular outlet surface (S9), the normal to the inlet surface (S1) which passes through the center (01) of the ring of the inlet surface (S1) being collinear with the normal to the outlet surface (S9) which passes through the center (09) of the rectangle of the outlet surface (S9);a2) cutting the set of inlet and outlet surfaces (S1, S9) along said vertical plane of symmetry (PN1) and said horizontal median plane (PN2) to obtain a portion (PSIsup), called the upper lateral portion, of the annular inlet surface (S1), and a portion, called the upper lateral portion (PS9sup), of the outlet surface (S9); b) determining a path, called the first exterior path, for a first pair of points (P1 ES1; P1 ES9) comprising a first point (P1 ES1) of the exterior contour (PCES1) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the inlet surface (S1) located in the horizontal median plane (PN2), and a first point (P1 ES9) of the exterior contour (PCES9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the outlet surface (S9) located in said horizontal median plane (PN2); the length of the path (d19max) being called the reference length; c) for a second pair of points (P2ES1;P2ES9) comprising a second point (P2ES1 ) of the outer contour (PCES1 ) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the input surface (S1 ), which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1 ), and a second point (P2ES9) of the outer contour (PCES9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9), which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1 ); determination of a second outer path, in the plane of symmetry (PN1 ); vertical, which connects said second point (P2ES1) of the outer contour (PCES1) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the entry surface (S1) and said second point (P2ES9) of the outer contour (PCES9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the exit surface (S9), said second outer path comprising: - a first segment (SDE2), called the opening segment, inclined at an angle of predefined value, called the upper opening angle (aouv_sup), relative to the axis of intersection (A12) of the two planes (PN1, PN2) between them, and - a second segment (SRE2), called the folding segment, which extends the first segment (SDE2) to said second point (P2ES1) of the outer contour (PCES1) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the input surface (S1), the length of said second outer path being equal to said determined reference length (d19max), the junction point between the two segments (SDE2, SRE2) being called the outer vertex (STE2); d) defining a plane, called the upper outer vertex plane, (PSSE) passing through said outer vertex (STE2) and said first point (P1 ES9) of the outer contour (PCES9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9), and the center (09) of the rectangular output surface (S9); e) for several other pairs of intermediate points (PiES1; PiES9), located between the first and second pairs of points (P1 ES1; P1 ES9, P2ES1;P2ES9), each pair of intermediate points comprising a point (PiES1 ) of the outer contour (PCES1 ) of the first upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the input surface (S1 ) and a corresponding point (PiES9) of the outer contour (PCES9) of the first upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9): determination of an outer path, called the intermediate outer path, formed by an opening segment (SDEi) and a folding segment (SREi) which connect said intermediate points (PiES1 , PiES9) of said pair of points, the junction point (STEi) between said segments (SDEi, SREi) belonging to the plane of upper outer vertices (PSSE), the length of said outer path being equal to said determined reference length (d19max); f) repetition of the preceding steps b) to e) with the inner contour (PCIS1 ) of; the upper portion (PSIsup) of the input surface (S1) and the inner contour (PCIS9) of the first lateral upper portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9), to generate paths, called inner paths, having inner vertices (STH, STIi, STI9), said inner paths being formed between pairs of points (P1 IS1; P1 IS9; P2IS1; P2IS9; Pi IS1; Pi IS9) which each comprise a point (P1 IS1; PilS1; P2IS1) belonging to the inner contour (PCIS1) of the upper portion (PSIsup) of the input surface and a point (P1 IS9; Pi IS9;P2IS9) corresponding to the inner contour (PCIS9) of the lateral upper portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9), the inner contour (PCIS9) of the upper portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9) corresponding to the segment in the vertical symmetry plane (PN1) which results from the cutting of the output surface (S9) according to said vertical symmetry plane (PN1) and said horizontal median plane (PN2); g) generation of an outer upper surface (SFEXTsup) which passes through the outer paths (SREi, SDEi) determined between said pairs of points of said outer contours; h) generation of an inner upper surface (SFINTsup) which passes through the inner paths (SRIi, SDIi) determined between said pairs of points of said inner contours;and: either, when the horizontal median plane (PN2) is not a plane of symmetry, then, for the lower lateral portions (PS1 inf, PS9inf) of the inlet (S1 ) and outlet (S9) surfaces which are located, with respect to the horizontal median plane (PN2), on the opposite side to said upper lateral portions (PSIsup, PS9sup) of the inlet (S1 ) and outlet (S9) surfaces, and on the same side of the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1 ) as the upper lateral portions (PSIsup, PS9sup) of the inlet (S1) and outlet (S9) surfaces, and for a predefined lower opening angle (aouv nf): i) repetition of the previous steps b) to h) applied to the lower portions (PS1 inf, PS9inf) to determine external paths and internal paths associated with said lower lateral portions (PS1 inf, PS9inf), and generate a lower outer surface (SFEXTinf) and a lower inner surface (SFINTinf) based on the determined outer paths and inner paths;either, when the horizontal median plane (PN2) is a plane of symmetry, ii) generation of a lower outer surface (SFEXTinf) and a lower inner surface (SFINTinf) by symmetry, with respect to the horizontal median plane (PN2), of the upper outer surface (SFEXTsup) and of the upper inner surface (SFINTsup); j) generation of an additional lower outer surface (SFEXT'inf), an additional upper outer surface (SFEXT'sup), an additional lower inner surface (SFINT'inf) and an additional upper inner surface (SFINT'sup) by symmetry, with respect to the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1), of said lower outer surface (SFEXTinf), of said upper outer surface (SFEXTsup), of said lower inner surface (SFINTinf) and of said upper inner surface (SFINTsup);said external surface (SFEXTVAC) of the volume (VACNL1) of the wave guide channel being formed by the joined assembly of said external surfaces (SFEXTsup, SFEXTinf, SFEXT'sup, SFEXT'inf); said internal surface (SFINTVAC) of the volume (VACNL1) of the wave guide channel being formed by the joined assembly of said internal surfaces (SFINTsup, SFINTinf, SFINT'sup and SFINT'inf).; 2. Method implemented on a computer system, for designing the external shell (CQE), and the core (NYI) from the data set generated according to the method of claim 1, comprising generating using the computer system a computer data set representative of the external shell (CQE) such that the internal peripheral surface (SPI) of said external shell (CQE) is defined as a function of said computer data set representative of said external surface (SFEXTVAC) of said volume, and a computer data set representative of the core (NYI) such that the external peripheral surface (SPE) of said core (NYI) is defined as a function of said computer data set representative of said internal surface (SFINTVAC) of said volume of the waveguide channel.

3. Method for manufacturing the outer shell (CQE) and the core (NYI) of a waveguide device (100) from the data sets generated according to the method of claim 2.

4. A method of manufacturing a waveguide device (100) from the outer shell and the core manufactured according to the method of claim 3, the method comprising fixing the core (NYI) inside the outer shell (CQE) by connecting tabs.

5. A method of manufacturing an acoustic enclosure, the method comprising: - the provision of an enclosure box (10) comprising two opposite faces (11, 12), called upper and lower faces, connected to each other by two other faces called lateral faces; - providing a waveguide device (100) manufactured according to the method of claim 4, - fixing the waveguide device (100) inside the enclosure housing (10).

6. Method of manufacturing a set of at least two acoustic speakers, the method comprising: - the provision of at least two acoustic enclosures according to the method of claim 5, - juxtaposing, for example superposing, the two enclosures so that, for each waveguide device (100), the plane which is parallel to the rectangle length of the rectangular outlet opening of the waveguide device, orthogonal to the outlet opening, and which passes through the center of the rectangular outlet opening, is coplanar with said corresponding plane of the other waveguide device.

7. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which, for each pair of intermediate points (PiES1; PiES9), the ratio of the length between the intermediate point (PiES1) of the outer contour of the input surface (S1) and the first point (P1 ES1) of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion (PS1 sup) of the input surface (S1), to the length of the outer contour (PCESIsup) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the input surface (S1), is equal to the ratio of the length between the corresponding intermediate point (PiES9) of the outer contour of the output surface (S9) and the first point (P1 ES9) of the outer contour of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the exit surface (S9) on the length of the outer contour (PCES9sup) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the entry surface (S9).

8. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said pairs of points (P1 IS1; P1 IS9; P2IS1; P2IS9; PilS1; PilS9) of inner contour comprise: a first pair of points (P1 IS1; P1 IS9) comprising a first point (P1 IS1 ) of the inner contour (PCIS1 ) of the upper lateral portion (PS1 sup) of the input surface (S1 ) located in the horizontal median plane (PN2), and a first point (P1 IS9) of the inner contour (PCIS9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9) located in said horizontal median plane (PN2), the length of the path between said points being equal to the reference length (d19max); a second pair of points (P2IS1 ;P2IS9) comprising a second point (P2IS1 ) of the inner contour (PCIS1 ) of the upper lateral portion (PS1 sup) of the input surface (S1 ), which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1 ), and, a second point (P2IS9) of the inner contour (PCIS9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9), which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1 ); pairs of intermediate points (Pi IS1, Pi IS9) located between the first and second pairs of points (P1 IS1; P1 IS9, P2IS1; P2IS9), each pair of intermediate points comprising a point (PilS1) of the inner contour (PCIS1) of the first upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the input surface (S1), and a corresponding point (PilS9) of the inner contour (PCIS9) of the first upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9);the second point (P2IS9) of the inner contour (PCIS9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the exit surface (S9) being spaced from the second point (P2ES9) of the outer contour (PCES9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the exit surface (S9) by a distance equal to the distance between the second point (P2IS1 ) of the inner contour (PCIS1 ) of the upper lateral portion (PS1 sup) of the entry surface (S1 ) and the second point (P2ES1 ) of the contour; exterior (PCES1) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the entry surface (S1).

9. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inner peripheral surface (SPI) of said outer shell (CQE) corresponds to said outer surface (SFEXTVAC) of said volume of the waveguiding channel, for which the slope discontinuity zone formed by the inner vertices (STIi, STIiinf) is replaced by a curved zone to obtain slope continuity of the inner peripheral surface, and the outer peripheral surface (SPE) of said core (NYI) corresponds to said inner surface (SFINTVAC) of said volume of the waveguiding channel for which the slope discontinuity zone formed by the outer vertices (STEi, STEiinf) is replaced by a curved zone to obtain slope continuity of the inner peripheral surface.

10. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the upper opening angle (aouv_sup), respectively the lower opening angle (aouv_sup), is defined as a function of, is preferably equal to, the angle formed by an upper face (11), respectively a lower face (12), of the housing (10) of the enclosure (1) in which the waveguide device is intended to be housed, with the median plane of the housing (10) of said enclosure (1) which is orthogonal to the output face of the housing (10) opposite which the output opening (190) of the waveguide device is intended to be oriented and which extends between the upper face and the lower face of the housing.

11. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the rectangular exit surface (S9) is equal to or larger than the annular entry surface (S1).

12. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the waveguide device (100) being housed in a housing (10) of an enclosure (1), the outlet opening (190) has a height equal to at least 80% of the height of the outlet face of the housing (10) of the enclosure (1).

13. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the outer shell (CQE) and the core (NYI) are each produced by molding, preferably by plastic injection.

14. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the upper opening angle and / or the lower opening angle has a value in the range [5°; 30°].

15. Waveguide device (100), obtained by the method according to any one of the preceding claims.

16. Waveguide device (100) comprising: - an external peripheral wall (EPW), called the external shell, - an internal peripheral wall (NYI), called core, surrounded by the external shell (CQE); the external shell (CQE) and the core (NYI) delimiting between them: - an inlet opening (110) which has an annular inlet surface (S1), and to which an acoustic wave generator (SG) is capable of being connected, - an outlet opening (190), called a mouth, having a rectangular outlet surface (S9), the outer diameter of the annular inlet opening (110) being less than the length of the long side of the rectangle of the outlet opening (190), and being greater than half the length of the long side of the rectangle of the outlet opening (190), the two inlet and outlet surfaces (S1, S9) together having a plane of symmetry (PN1), called a vertical plane of symmetry, passing between the two long sides of the rectangle of the outlet surface (S9), and a median plane (PN2), called a horizontal median plane, orthogonal to the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1), said planes (PN1, PN2) passing through the center (01) of the annular inlet surface (S1) and through the center (09) of the rectangular outlet surface (S9), - an acoustic wave guiding channel (CNL1) communicating between the inlet opening (110) and the outlet opening (190) and defined between an internal peripheral surface (SPI) of the external shell (CQE) and an external peripheral surface (SPE) of the core (NYI); characterized in that, for a portion (PSIsup), called the upper lateral portion, of the annular inlet surface (S1), and a portion, called the upper lateral portion (PS9sup), of the outlet surface (S9), defined by cutting the set of inlet and outlet surfaces (S1, S9) along said vertical plane of symmetry (PN1) and said horizontal median plane (PN2), said upper lateral portion being located on one side of the plane (PN2) called the upper side and on one side of the plane (PN1), called the first lateral side; the path, called the first external path, for a first pair of points (P1 ES1 ;P1 ES9) which comprises a first point (P1 ES1 ) of the outer contour (PCES1 ) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the entry surface (S1 ) located in the horizontal median plane (PN2), and a first point (P1 ES9) of the outer contour (PCES9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the exit surface (S9) located in said horizontal median plane (PN2), has a length (d19max) called the reference length; for a second pair of points (P2ES1; P2ES9) comprising a second point (P2ES1) of the outer contour (PCES1) of the upper lateral portion (PS1 sup) of the input surface (S1), which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1), and a second point (P2ES9) of the outer contour (PCES9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9), which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1);the second external path, in the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1), which connects said second point (P2ES1) of the external contour (PCES1) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the entry surface (S1) and said second point (P2ES9) of the external contour (PCES9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the exit surface (S9), comprises:; - a first segment (SDE2), called the opening segment, the majority of which (PSDE2) belongs to the inner peripheral surface (SPI) of the outer shell (CQE), and which is inclined at an angle of predefined value, called the upper opening angle (aouv_sup), relative to the axis of intersection (A12) of the two planes (PN1, PN2) between them, and - a second segment (SRE2), called the folding segment, the majority of which (PSRE2) belongs to the inner peripheral surface (SPI) of the outer shell (CQE), and which extends the first segment (SDE2) up to said second point (P2ES1) of the outer contour (PCES1) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the input surface (S1), the length of said external path being equal to said determined reference length (d19max), the junction point of the two segments (SDE2, SRE2) being called the external vertex (STE2); for a plane, called the upper external vertex plane, (PSSE) passing through said external vertex (STE2) and said first point (P1 ES9) of the external contour (PCES9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9), and the center (09) of the rectangular output surface (S9); and, for several other pairs of intermediate points (PiES1; PiES9), located between the first and second pairs of points (P1 ES1; P1 ES9, P2ES1;P2ES9), each pair of intermediate points comprising a point (PiES1 ) of the outer contour (PCES1 ) of the first upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the entry surface (S1 ) and a corresponding point (PiES9) of the outer contour (PCES9) of the first upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the exit surface (S9): considering the outer path, called the intermediate outer path, formed by an opening segment (SDEi) the majority of which belongs to the inner peripheral surface (SPI) of the outer shell (CQE) and a folding segment (SREi) the majority of which belongs to the inner peripheral surface (SPI) of the outer shell (CQE), and which connect said intermediate points (PiES1 , PiES9) of said pair of points, the junction point (STEi) of said segments (SDEi, SREi) belonging to the outer upper vertex plane (PSSE), the length of said intermediate outer path is equal to said reference length (d19max);considering the path, called the first interior path, for a first pair of points (P1 IS1; P1 IS9) which comprises a first point (P1 IS1 ) of the interior contour (PCIS1 ) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the entry surface (S1) located in the horizontal median plane (PN2), and a first point (P1 IS9) of the interior contour (PCIS9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the exit surface (S9) located in said horizontal median plane (PN2), the length of said first interior path is equal to the reference length; the interior contour (PCIS9) of the upper portion (PS9sup) of the exit surface (S9) corresponding to the segment of the exit surface (S9) which extends in the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1 ) and which results from the cutting of the surface of; output (S9) according to said vertical plane of symmetry (PN1) and said horizontal median plane (PN2); for a second pair of points (P2IS1; P2IS9) comprising a second point (P2ES1) of the inner contour (PCIS1) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the input surface (S1), which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1), and a second point (P2IS9) of the inner contour (PCIS9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9), which belongs to the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1); considering the second interior path, in the vertical plane of symmetry (PN1), which connects said second point (P2IS1) of the interior contour (PCIS1) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the entry surface (S1) and said second point (P2IS9) of the interior contour (PCIS9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the exit surface (S9), the second interior path comprising: - a first segment (SDI2), called the opening segment, the majority of which (PSDI2) belongs to the outer peripheral surface (SPE) of the core (NYI) and which is inclined at said upper opening angle (aouv_sup), relative to the axis of intersection (A12) of the two planes (PN1, PN2) between them, and - a second segment (SRI2), called the folding segment, the majority of which (PSRI2) belongs to the outer peripheral surface (SPE) of the core (NYI) and which extends the first segment (SDI2) to said second point (P2IS1) of the inner contour (PCIS1) of the upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the input surface (S1), the junction point between straight lines passing through the two segments (SDI2, SRI2) being called the inner vertex (STI2); the length of said second outer path is equal to said reference length (d19max), for a plane, called the upper inner vertex plane, passing through said inner vertex (STI2) and said first point (P1 IS9) of the inner contour (PCIS9) of the upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the output surface (S9), and the center (09) of the rectangular output surface (S9); and, for several other pairs of intermediate points (PilS1; PilS9), located between the first and second pairs of points (P1 IS1;P1 IS9, P2IS1; P2IS9), each pair of intermediate points comprising a point (PilS1) of the inner contour (PCIS1) of the first upper lateral portion (PSIsup) of the input surface (S1) and a corresponding point (PilS9) of the inner contour (PCIS9) of the first upper lateral portion (PS9sup) of the surface of; output (S9): considering each interior path, called intermediate interior path, which connects points (Pi IS1, Pi IS9) of a pair of intermediate points, and which comprises an opening segment (SDIi) the majority of which belongs to the outer peripheral surface (SPE) of the core (NYI) and a folding segment (SRI i) the majority of which belongs to the outer peripheral surface (SPE) of the core (NYI) and which are defined so that the junction point (STIi) of said segments (SDIi, SRIi) belongs to the plane of interior upper vertices, each intermediate interior path has a length equal to the reference length d19max.

17. Device according to claim 16, wherein the inner peripheral surface (SPI), and / or respectively the outer peripheral surface (SPE), comprises a circular arc portion (ACE; ACI) which connects together the folding segment portions (PSRE2; PSRI2) and the opening segment portions (PSDE2; PSDI2) which belong to the inner peripheral surface (SPI), respectively to the outer peripheral surface (SPE), so that said segment portions (PSRE2; PSRI2; PSDE2; PSDI2) are tangent to the corresponding circular arc (ACE; ACI).

18. Device according to claim 17, wherein the lengths of outer paths and inner paths associated with lower lateral portions (PS1 inf, PS9inf) of the inlet and outlet surfaces, located relative to said upper lateral portions (PSIsup, PS9sup) on the other side of the horizontal median plane (PN2), are equal to said reference length (d19max).

19. Device according to any one of claims 15 to 18, in which the acoustic wave generator system (SG) is capable of being connected to the inlet opening (110) of the external shell, either directly or indirectly by a connection device (CA1) whose inlet opening has a disc surface (SDCAE1).

20. Device according to claim 19, wherein the internal volume of the connecting device (CA1) is defined between an internal cone (CAI1) connected to the core (NYI) and an external cone truncated (CAE1) connected to the external shell (CQE).

21. Device according to claim 19 or 20, in which the connecting device (CA1) has two internal surfaces which define between them a passage whose inlet is a disc-shaped surface and whose outlet is an annular-shaped surface connected to the inlet of the external shell (CQE), the two internal surfaces being configured so as not to introduce any difference in sound wave propagation time between the two internal surfaces.

22. Enclosure comprising a housing (10) and, housed in the housing, a waveguide device (100) according to any one of claims 15 to 21, and an acoustic wave generator system (SG) connected to the waveguide device.

23. Enclosure according to claim 22, wherein, in the vertically oriented state of the length of the rectangle of the rectangular output surface (S9) of the waveguide device, in a cutting plane (PN1) orthogonal to the rectangular output surface (S9) of the waveguide device, parallel to the length of the rectangle and passing through the center (09) of said rectangular output surface (S9), the segment (S11) resulting from the cutting of the upper face (11) of the housing (10) forms with the normal (A12) to the rectangular output surface (S9) of the waveguide device which passes through the center (09) of said rectangular output surface (S9), an angle equal to said upper opening angle (a 0U v_sup) used to define the inner surface of the upper part of the outer shell and the outer surface of the upper part of the core.

24. Enclosure according to claim 22 or 23, wherein, in the vertically oriented state of the length of the rectangle of the rectangular output surface (S9) of the waveguide device, in a section plane (PN1) orthogonal to the rectangular output surface (S9) of the waveguide device, parallel to the length of the rectangle and passing through the center (09) of said rectangular output surface (S9), the segment (S12) resulting from the cutting of the lower face (12) of the housing (10) forms with the normal (A12) to the rectangular output surface (S9) of the waveguide device which passes through the center (09) of said rectangular output surface (S9), an angle equal to said lower opening angle (a 0U vjnf ) used to define the inner surface of the lower part of the outer shell and the outer surface of the lower part of the core.

25. Set of juxtaposed, for example superimposed, speakers (1, 1'), each speaker (1, 1') being in accordance with any one of claims 22 to 24, the speakers (1, 1') being configured so that the acoustic waves emerging from said speakers (1, 1') are in phase.

Images